
LIBRARY OF CONGRESS 



*2 




3*. ♦•««» ^cr 



BUREAU OF AMERICAN ETHNOLOGY 



BULLETIN 71 PLATE I 




Wampum In Museum of Collegio di Propaganda Fide. Rome 



SMITHSONIAN INSTITUTION 

BUREAU OF AMERICAN ETHNOLOGY 

BULLETIN 71 



NATIVE CEMETERIES AND FORMS OF 
RURIAL EAST OF THE 
MISSISSIPPI 



BY 

DAVID I. BUSHNELL, Jr. 




WASHINGTON 
GOVERNMENT PRINTING OFFICE 
1920 



LETTER OF TRANSMITTAL 



Smithsonian Institution, 
Bureau of American Ethnology, 

Washington, D. 6 7 ., May 20, 1919. 
Sir: I have the honor to transmit the accompanying manuscript, 
entitled " Native Cemeteries and Forms of Burial East of the Mis- 
sissippi," by David I. Bushnell, jr., and to recommend its publica- 
tion, subject to your approval, as a bulletin of this Bureau. 
Very respectfully, 

J. Walter Fewkes, 

Chief. 

Dr. Charles D. Walcott, 

Secretary of the Smithsonian Institution. 

3 



PREFACE 

In the journals of many explorers and missionaries who traversed 
the great wilderness east of the Mississippi when it was yet the home 
of native tribes are references to the burial customs of the people 
with whom they came in contact. Villages were widely dispersed 
throughout the land, and often the places of burial were near by, 
differing in distant parts of the country, conforming with the man- 
ners of the tribe by whom the particular region was occupied. The 
native villages have now disappeared, although many sites are 
indicated by bits of pottery and other objects scattered over the 
surface, but frequently the cemeteries once belonging to the settle- 
ments may be discovered. The forms of burial varied. Among some 
tribes a period of months or years would intervene between the 
death of the person and the final disposition of the remains, and 
seldom were all the ceremonies attending death and burial recorded 
by a single writer, therefore it is necessary, when attempting to re- 
count the entire procedure, to quote from several narratives. And in 
many instances the description of the last disposition of the dead 
will agree with the position of the remains now revealed in the 
ancient cemeteries, thus tending to identify the former occupants of 
the sites, and to verify the statements of early observers, many of 
which are presented on the following pages. 

5 



CONTENTS 



Page 

Algonquian groups 11 

New England ^ 12 

Manhattan Island and southward 18 

Delaware ceremony, 1762 20 

The Nanticoke 24 

The Powhatan confederacy 26 

West of the Alleghenies 29 

The Menomini 34 

Cremation , 36 

" The Illinois country " 39 

Stone-lined graves 44 

Inclosures in mounds 58 

Burials in caves 65 

Iroquoian groups 1 TO 

The Five Nations 70 

Ossuaries 73 

Huron ceremony, 1636 73 

Later Huron burial, 1675 80 

Seneca ceremony, 1731 83 

Various types of burials — : 87 

Belief in a future state after death 88 

Iroquoian tribes adjoining the Five Nations 90 

The Cherokee 90 

Muskhogean groups 93 

The Choctaw 94 

The Natchez 101 

The Chickasaw 105 

The Creeks 110 

The Seminole 114 

Timucuan tribes 116 

Siouan groups 122 

The Monacan 122 

The Santee 131 

The Biloxi and Pascagoula 135 

Southern Ohio and adjacent regions 137 

Conclusion 146 

Bibliography 149 

Index 157 

7 



ILLUSTRATIONS 



PLATES 



1. Wampum collar or stole. Frontispiece. * 

2. a, Burial at North Hadley, Massachusetts. b, Burial at Winthrop, Massa- 

chusetts. 

3. a, "Temple" at Secotan, 1585. b, Tomb inside the "Temple." 

4. a, Chippewa grave at Fond du Lac, 1826. b, American Fur Company's post 

at Fond du Lac, 1826. 

5. a, Ojibway graves at Mille Lac, Minnesota, 1900. b, Old form of Menomini 

grave covering, c, Later form of same. 

6. a, Stone-lined grave, Decatur County, Tennessee, open, b, Same grave be- 

fore the cover was removed. 

7. a, Stone-lined grave, Marshall County, Alabama, open, b, Same grave be- 

fore removing cover. 

8. a, Burial in Ohio County, Kentucky, b, Large grave in mound in Warren 

County, Kentucky. 

9. a, Small stone-lined grave, Jefferson County, Missouri, b. Stone-lined grave, 

Jefferson County, Missouri. 

10. a, Site of an ancient cemetery, Clinton County, Pennsylvania, b, Partial 

excavation of ossuary, Gasport, New York. 

11. a, " The mode of carrying the sick or wounded." b, Cemetery at a Seneca 

village, 1731. 

12. Choctaw burials, 1775. 

13. a, Seminole grave, b, Burial ceremony in Florida, 1564. 

14. Site of mound opened by Jefferson, a, Looking northward, b, The cliffs. 

c, The Rivanna passing the " low grounds." 

15. Grave Creek Mound. 

16. A section of Ross County, Ohio. 

17. "Tremper Mound." a, Original survey by Whittlesy. b, Plan of base as 

revealed during recent examination. 



TEXT FIGUEES 



Page 



1. Menomini graves 

2. Scaffold burials, from Lahontan 

3. Stone-lined grave, Ste. Genevieve, Missouri 

4. Small cemetery, Jefferson County, Missouri 

5. Small mortuary bowl 

6. Grave Creek Mound 

7. Inclosure in mound, Hocking County, Ohio 

8. Mound in Jo Daviess County, Illinois, section 

9. Mound in Jo Daviess County, Illinois, base 

10. Mound in Crawford County, Wisconsin 

11. Design on wampum collar 

12. Burials in mound at Chote 

13. The Natchez Temple, after Du Pratz 

14. Carrying the dead, among the Seminole__ 

15. Site of the mound opened by Jefferson 

16. Plan of a habitation, with near-by graves, Ross County, Ohio. 

17. Section of the " Gartner Mound " 



35 
37 
53 
54 
57 
59 
60 
64' 
64 
65 
81 
92 
105 
115 
127 
139 
141 



9 



NATIVE CEMETERIES AND FORMS OF RURIAL 
EAST OF THE MISSISSIPPI 



By David I. Btjshnell, Jr. 



ALGONQUIAN GROUPS 

When that part of America which extends westward from the 
Atlantic to the Mississippi was discovered by Europeans it was occu- 
pied by numerous tribes, speaking distinct languages, with many 
dialects. And as the habitations and other structures erected by the 
widely scattered tribes differed in form, size, and the material of 
which they were constructed, and presented many interesting charac- 
teristics (Bushnell, (1)), so did the cemeteries and forms of burial 
vary in distant parts of the country. In New England and the 
lower Hudson Valley were tribes belonging to the Algonquian family, 
many of which were often mentioned in the early records of the colo- 
nies. Their small villages, a cluster of mat or bark covered wig- 
wams, frequently grouped within an encircling palisade, lay scattered 
along the coast, and inland up the valleys of many streams. They 
cultivated fields of corn and raised other vegetal products, and dur- 
ing certain seasons of the year collected vast quantities of oysters and 
clams to serve as food, as attested by the great accumulations of shells 
now encountered along the coast. Others of this linguistic group 
dominated the coast as far south as the central portion of the present 
State of North Carolina, thus including the people discovered by the 
English expeditions sent out by Sir Walter Raleigh in 1584 and sub- 
sequent years, and the group of tribes which formed the Powhatan 
confederacy, so famed in the early history of Virginia. Like all 
tribes then living near the sea, they visited the coast for the purpose 
of gathering oysters and other mollusks, and to take fish in their 
weirs. During other seasons they would leave their villages and enter 
the virgin forests to hunt, thus securing both food and peltry, the 
latter to be used in making garments and various necessary articles. 

Westward, beyond the mountains and the Ohio, were many Algon- 
quian tribes, the best known being the Miami, the Sauk and Fox, 
the several tribes which constituted the loosely formed Illinois con- 
federacy, the Menominee and scattered O jib way of the north, and 
southward in the valley of the Ohio and elsewhere the widely dis- 
persed Shawnee. While the Algonquian tribes of the East were sed- 

11 



12 



BUREAU OF AMERICAN ETHNOLOGY 



[BULL. 71 



entary, and continued to occupy their ancient sites for many years 
after first becoming known to Europeans, the majority of the western 
members of this great linguistic family were ever moving from place 
to place. This movement, however, may have begun only after cer- 
tain of their enemies had secured firearms from the Dutch and French 
traders in the early years of the seventeenth century. The habita- 
tions and other structures reared by all the Algonquian tribes were 
quite similar in form and size. 

NEW ENGLAND 

Three centuries and more have elapsed since the Jesuit, Pere Pierre 
Biard, of Grenoble, prepared an account of the manners and customs 
of several native tribes of New France, which then included .within 
its bounds the eastern portions of the present State of Maine, and 
the adjoining provinces. He wrote more particularly of the " three 
tribes which are on good terms of friendship with us — the Monta- 
guets, the Souriquois, and the Eteminquois." By these names the 
early French knew the three tribes now better known as the Monta- 
gnais, Micmac, and Malecite, all belonging to the great Algonquian 
family, and who occupied the region just mentioned. Although not 
always at peace with one another they undoubtedly had many cus- 
toms in common, and these may have differed little from those of 
the neighboring tribes, all of which belonged to the same stock. 
And when recounting the ceremonies attending the death and burial 
of a member of one of these tribes he wrote : " The sick man having 
been appointed by the Autmoin to die ... all the relations and neigh- 
bors assemble and, with the greatest possible solemnity, he delivers 
his funeral oration : he recites his heroic deeds, gives some directions 
to his family, recommends his friends : finally, says adieu. This is 
all there is of their wills. As to gifts, they make none at all; but, 
quite different from us, the survivors give some to the dying man. " 
A feast is prepared, all gather, evidently in the presence of the dying 
man, and partake of the food, and " having banqueted they begin to 
express their sympathy and sorrowful Farewells, their hearts weep 
and bleed because their good friend is going to leave them and go 
away . . . they go on in this way until the dying man expires and then 
they utter horrible cries." These continue day and night and do not 
cease until the supply of food has been exhausted, the food having 
previously been provided by the dying man, and if there are no 
supplies " they only bury the dead man, and postpone the obsequies 
and ceremonies until another time and place, at the good pleasure 
of their stomachs. Meanwhile all the relatives and friends daub 
their faces with black, and very often paint themselves with other 
colors ... To them black is a sign of grief and mourning. They bury 



bdshnell] NATIVE CEMETERIES AND FORMS OF BURIAL 



13 



their dead in this manner : First they swathe the body and tie it up 
in skins ; not lengthwise, but with the knees against the stomach and 
the head on the knees, as we are in our mother's womb. Afterwards 
they put it in the grave, which has been made very deep, not upon 
the back or lying down as we do, but sitting. A posture which they 
like very much, and which among them signifies reverence. For the 
children and the youths seat themselves thus in the presence of their 
fathers and of the old, whom they respect . . . When the body is 
placed, as it does not come up even with the ground on account of the 
depth of the grave, they arch the grave over with sticks, so that 
the earth will not fall back into it, and thus they cover up the 
tomb ... If it is some illustrious personage they build a Pyramid 
or monument of interlacing poles; as eager in that for glory as 
we are in our marble and porphyry. If it is a man, they place 
there as a sign and emblem, his bow, arrows, and shield; if a 
woman, spoons, matachias, or jewels, ornaments, etc. I have nearly 
forgotten the most beautiful part of all; it is that they bury with 
the dead man all that he owns, such as his bag, his arrows, his 
skins and all his other articles and baggage, even his dogs if they 
have not been eaten. Moreover, the survivors add- to these a num- 
ber of other such offerings, as tokens of friendship . . . These obse- 
quies finished, they flee from the place, and, from that time on, they 
hate all memory of the dead. If it happens that they are obliged 
to speak of him sometimes, it is under another and a new name." 
(Biard, (1), pp. 127-131.) 

Dogs were among the gifts presented to the dying man by his 
friends, and "they kill these dogs in order to send them on before 
him into the other world," and they were eaten at the feast prepared 
at the time of the death, " for they find them palatable." 

This general description would probably have applied to the burial 
customs of the tribes occupying the greater part of the country east 
of the Hudson, the present New England States, and the closely 
flexed burials are easily explained and clearly described. The asso- 
ciation of many objects with the remains is verified by the discoveries 
made by the Pilgrims when they landed on Cape Cod, early in No- 
vember, 1620, and interesting indeed is their old narrative. They 
went ashore on the unknown coast to explore the woods and learn 
what they might contain. They advanced a short distance and en- 
countered small mounds of earth which were found to cover pits or 
caches filled with corn. And then they found another : " It also was 
covered with boords, so as we mused what it should be, and resolved 
to digge it up, where we found, first a Matt, and under that a fayre 
Bow, and there another Matt, and under that boord about three 
quarters long, finely carved and paynted, with three tynes, or broches 
on the top, like a Crowne ; also betweene the Matts we found Boules, 



14 



BUREAU OF AMERICAN ETHNOLOGY 



[bull. 71 



Trayes, Dishes, and such like Trinkets : at length we came to a faire 
new Matt, and under that two Bundles, the one bigger, the other less, 
we opened the greater and found in it a great quantitie of fine and 
perfect red Powder, and in it the bones and skull of a man. The 
skull had fine yellow haire still on it, and some of the flesh uncon- 
sumed, there was bound up with it a knife, a pack-needle, and two or 
three old iron things. It was bound up in a Saylers canvas Cassack, 
and a payre of cloth breeches. . . . We opened the less bundle like- 
wise, and found of the same Powder in it, and the bones and head of 
a little childe, about the leggs, and other parts of it was bound strings, 
and bracelets of fine white Beads; there was also by it a little Bow, 
about three quarters long, and some other odd knacks; we brought 
sundry of the pretiest things away with us, and covered the Corps up 
again." (Mourt, (1), p. 11.) 

This was probably just north of Pamet River, in Truro village, 
where at the present day rising ground, slightly more elevated than 
the surrounding country, continues to be known as Corn Hill. Near 
the western edge of this area it becomes more level and falls away 
abruptly on the shore of Cape Cod Bay, rising some 20 feet above 
high tide and exposing bare sand with little vegetation. During the 
summer of 1903 a dark line was visible on the face of the bank at an 
average depth of about 2 feet below the present surface and it could 
be traced for several hundred yards along the shore. This dark 
stratum, several inches in thickness, proved to be an old sod line, and 
at three points where it was somewhat thicker than elsewhere fire 
beds were discovered and slight excavations revealed fragments of 
pottery, bits of charred bones, and ashes. This may have been the 
surface upon which stood the village of three centuries ago, and if so, 
the land upon which the Pilgrims trod has been covered by a mass 
of drifting sand, swept by the winds across the narrow cape. 

Sailing from their safe anchorage near the end of the cape, the 
Pilgrims, on December 6, 1620, arrived in the vicinity of Wellfleet 
Bay, named by them Grampus Bay, by reason of discovering " eight 
or ten Saluages about a dead Grampus," and near by " we found a 
great burying place, one part whereof was incompassed with a large 
Palazado, like a Church-yard, with yong spires foure or five yards 
long, set as close one by another as they could two or three foot in 
the ground, within it was full of graves, some bigger and some lesse, 
some were also paled about, & others had like an Indian house made 
over them, but not matted : those Graves; were more sumptuous than 
those at Oorne-hill, yet we digged none of them up . . . without 
the Palazado were graves also, but not so costly." (Op. cit., p. 17.) 
Not far away were several frames of wigwams, but the mat covers 
had been removed and the site had been temporarily abandoned. 



BUSHNBLL] NATIVE CEMETERIES AND FOEMS OF BURIAL 



15 



The two burials encountered by the Pilgrims at Corn Hill were 
those of Indians and had evidently been made within a year. The 
" yellow haire " had been caused by the process of decay and would 
soon have disappeared. The objects of iron had been obtained from 
some Europeans who had touched upon the coast or whose vessel 
had been wrecked. Now, three centuries, later, were these ancient 
burial places to be discovered it is doubtful whether any traces would 
remain in addition to the mass of " perfect red Powder/' insoluble 
red oxide of iron (Fe 2 O s ). All human remains, mats, bows, and 
other objects of a perishable nature would have turned to dust and 
disappeared. But any ornaments or implements of stone which 
might have been deposited in the pit grave would remain. Within 
recent years many similar pits, with masses of the red oxide mingled 
with various objects of stone, have been encountered not far 
from the coast in Lincoln and Hancock Counties, Maine. But not 
a particle of bone, or even a tooth, has been discovered within the 
ancient pits to indicate the presence of human remains. Neverthe- 
less they were probably once like the burials found by the Pilgrims 
at Corn Hill, but now all substance of a perishable nature has van- 
ished. They were probably made by a kindred Algonquian tribe 
and may not be older than those occurring on Cape Cod. One of 
the most interesting groups of such pit graves was exposed at Bucks- 
port, 18 miles below Bangor, on the left bank of the Penobscot ; an- 
other was discovered on the west shore of Lake Alamoosook, both 
in Hancock County, Maine. (Willoughby, (1).) 

Similar deposits of the insoluble red oxide were associated with 
burials in an ancient cemetery discovered in 1913 in Warren, Bristol 
County, Rhode Island. This appears to have been a burying ground 
of the Wampanoag, within whose lands it was. When the site was 
destroyed some of the skeletons were exposed, together with a large 
number of objects of English, Dutch, and French origin, dating from 
the years between the first contact with the Europeans until the 
latter part of the seventeenth century. In some burials copper ket- 
tles were placed over the heads of the bodies. In such cases the cop- 
per salts acted as a preservative. One grave was of the greatest 
interest. It was that of a man well advanced in years, and asso- 
ciated with the remains were two ancient English swords, one or 
more gunlocks, a roll of military braid, and the traces of a feather 
headdress in a case. The suggestion has been made that these were 
the remains of the great Wampanoag chief, Massasoit, who met the 
Pilgrims at Plymouth in 1621, ever remained a friend of the colo- 
nists, and who died in 1662. One of his sons, Metacomet, became 
known as King Philip, famous in colonial history and leader in the 
war against the English settlements which terminated in the disas- 



16 



BUKEAU OF AMERICAN ETHNOLOGY 



[BULL. 71 



trous defeat of the Indians and the death of their leader, August 
12, 1676. 

Thus having three distinct references to the use of red oxide — 
one on the coast of Maine in what should probably be accepted as 
graves, another in Ehode Island, and the third on Cape Cod — would 
make it appear that placing quantities of finely powdered red oxide 
of iron in graves with the human remains was a well-established 
custom of the Algonquian tribes found occupying the coast of New 
England when that rugged shore was settled by the English colo- 
nists. Similar burials will probably be discovered at some later day 
which will tend to substantiate this belief. 

Closely flexed burials, examples of which are shown in plate Shsi 
are characterstic of precolonial New England, but later, after comii 
under the influence and teachings of missionaries and others, the 
same tribes no longer used this form of burial, but placed the re- 
mains of the dead in an extended position, either wrapped in b? 
or deposited in roughly made wooden coffins. The latter form vi 
encountered during the partial exploration of the ancient Mam 
cemetery, known as Fort Neck Burying Ground, in Charlestown, 
Washington County, Rhode Island, during the month of Septembt r, 
1912. Another site, now designated " Indian Burying Hill," like- 
wise in Charlestown, and now a State reservation, is known as the 
place of burial of the Niantic chiefs, among them Ninigret, by whom 
the Narraganset, who escaped destruction during King Philip's 
war, were later received. 

According to Prof. H. H. Wilder, by whom the "Fort Neck 
Burying Ground" was examined, "the bodies had evidently been 
buried in winding-sheets only, as nothing was found indicating 
clothing." This would be consistent with the old custom of these 
Indians, as Eoger Williams told of one " who winds up and buries 
the dead," and describing the burial customs said: " Mockkuttauce, 
One of the chief est esteeme, who winds up and buries the dead ; com- 
monly some wise, grave, and well descended man hath that office. 
When they come to the Grave, they lay the dead by the Grave's 
mouth, and then all sit downe and lament; that I have seen teares 
run down the cheeks of stoutest Captaines, as well as little childrer 
in abundance; and after the dead is laid in Grave, and sometime 
(in some parts) some goods cast in with them, they have then a 
second lamentation, and upon the Grave is spread the Mat thffijb the 
party died on, the Dish he eat in, and sometimes a faire Coat of skin 
hung upon the next tree to the Grave, which none will touch, but 
suffer it there to rot with the Dead : Yea I saw with mine owne eyes 
that at my late comming forth of the Countrey, the chiefe and 
most aged peaceable Father of the Countrey, Caunounicus, having 
buried his Sonne, he burned his own Palace, and all his goods in it 



BUSHNELL] 



NATIVE CEMETERIES AND FORMS OF BURIAL 



17 



(amongst them to a great value) in a solemne remembrance of his 
sonne and in a kind of humble, Expiation to the Gods, who, (as 
they believe) had taken his sonne from him." (Williams, (1), pp. 
161-162.) 

For this great Narraganset chief, Canonicus, to have destroyed his 
dwelling, with all its contents, at the time Qf the death and burial of 
his son was contrary to the usual customs of the Algonquian tribes, 
although such was the habit of several tribes of the South. 

There is reason to suppose the burial customs of the many tribes 
who occupied New England did not differ to any great degree, and 
all may have had similar periods of mourning and enacted the same 

t ^monies to express their grief. Among the Housatonic or River 
dans, later to be known as the Stockbridge Indians, the period of 
turning was about one year. Thus it was described in the year 
1736 : 

T ^ The Keutikaw is a Dance which finishes the Mourning for the 
id, and is celebrated about twelve Months after the Decease, when 
Guests invited make Presents to the Relations of the Deceas'd, 
to make up their Loss and to end their Mourning. The Manner of 
domg it is this: The Presents prepar'd are deliver'd to a Speaker 
appointed for the Purpose ; who, laying them upon the Shoulders of 
some elderly Person, makes a Speech shewing the Design of their 
present Meeting, and the Presents prepar'd. Then he takes them and 
distributes them to the M ourners, adding some Words of Consolation, 
and desiring them to forget their Sorrow, and accept of those Pres- 
ents to make up their loss. After this they eat together and make 
Merry." (Hopkins, (1), p. 38.) 

r This paragraph was taken from Sergeant's journal and bore the 
date January, 1736. It evidently recorded the customs of the Housa- 
tonic Indians at the time of the arrival of the missionary, and may 
have been the ancient custom of the Algonquian tribes of the region. 
Human remains have been discovered at various points in the valley 
of the Housatonic within the bounds of the lands once occupied by 
the tribe whose name the river perpetuates, and tradition locates one 
or more cemeteries west of the stream near the foot of the mountains, 
,v t no large group of burials is known to have ever been encountered. 

- Cairns, heaps of stones usually on some high and prominent point, 
arefo~Und throughout the southern mountains, but seldom have they 
been r ientioned in the older settled parts of the north One, however, 
stood in the country of the Housatonic Indians. As early as 1720 
some English traders saw a large heap of stones on the " east side of 
Westenhook or Housatonic River, so called, on the southerly end of 
the mountain called Monument Mountain, between Stockbridge and 
Great Barrington." This circumstance gave rise to the name which 

130548°— 20 2 



18 



BUREAU OF AMERICAN ETHNOLOGY 



[bull. 71 



has ever since been applied to the mountain, a prominent landmark 
in the valley. This ancient pile of stones may have marked the grave 
of some great man who lived and died before the coming of the 
colonists. 

Many ancient graves have been discovered at different times and in 
widely separated parts of New England. Probably the most famed 
of the many burials thus encountered was the so-called " Skeleton in 
Armor," a closely flexed skeleton discovered in a sand bank at Fall 
River, Massachusetts, in 1831. Traces of several thicknesses of bark 
cloth were found about the remains and on the outside was a casing 
of cedar bark. Associated with the body were objects of brass, one 
being a plate of that material about 14 inches in length, and encircling 
the skeleton were traces of a belt to which had been attached many 
brass tubes each about 4^ inches in length and one- quarter inch in 
diameter. The belt, made of metal obviously of European origin, 
was thought to be a piece of armor, which resulted in the name applied 
to the skeleton. The occurrence of brass with this burial is of inter- 
est as it is conclusive proof that flexed burials were prepared after the 
coming of the colonists. This example may date from about the 
middle of the seventeenth century. 

Flexed skeletons are usually found in single graves, although two 
closely bound burials were discovered in one grave, on the left bank 
of the Connecticut River, at North Hadley, Massachusetts. This 
was on the site of an Indian village where, about the year 1675, the 
chief was named Quanquant, The Crcnv. 

Cemeteries which may date from the earliest times are to be seen 
in the vicinity of Plymouth, and one of the largest in all New Eng- 
land is located in the town of Chilmark, on the island of Marthas 
Vineyard. Here 97 graves are marked by flat stones gathered from 
the surrounding surface and there are undoubtedly others which 
are not distinguishable. Several other burying places are known on 
the island, one being at Christiantown, the old M anitwatootan, or 
"God's Town," of 1668. It is well known that Marthas Vineyard 
was formerly the home of a large native population, by whom it was 
called Oapawock. 

MANHATTAN ISLAND AND SOUTHWARD 

An early description of the burial customs of the native inhabitants 
of New Netherlands, probably based on some ceremonies witnessed 
on or near Manhattan Island, explains the manner and position in 
which the remains were deposited in the grave. 

"Whenever an Indian departs this life, all the residents of the 
place assemble at the funeral. To a distant stranger, who has not a 
friend or relative in the place, they pay the like respect. They are 



bdshnell] NATIVE CEMETERIES AND FORMS OF BURIAL 



19 



equally careful to commit the body to the earth, without neglecting 
any of the usual ceremonies, according to the standing of the de- 
ceased. In deadly diseases, they are faithful to sustain and take care 
of each other. Whenever a soul has departed, the nearest relatives 
extend the limbs and close the eyes of the dead ; after the body has 
been watched and wept over several dajs and nights, they bring it 
to the grave, wherein they do not lay it down, but place it in a sitting 
posture upon a stone or a block of wood, as if the body were sitting 
upon a stool ; then they place a pot, kettle, platter, spoon, with some 
provisions and money, near the body in the grave; this they say is 
necessary for the journey to the other world. . Then they place as 
much wood around the body as will keep the earth from it. Above the 
grave they place a large pile of wood, stone or earth, and around and 
above the same they place palisades resembling a small dwelling." 
(Van der Donck, (1), pp. 201-202.) 

This account may be equally applicable to the Algonquian tribes 
of the valley of the Hudson and the neighboring Iroquoian people 
who lived a short distance west of that stream. Evidently there is one 
slight error in the description, as the body was not placed in a hori- 
zontal position but arranged in a "sitting posture." It would have 
been useless to have extended the limbs as mentioned. Probably 
soon after death the body was flexed and wrapped, preparatory to 
being placed in the grave, and as will be shown later, this was like- 
wise the custom among other tribes. It is interesting to recall how 
often the covering over the grave was likened to a small dwelling, and 
this tends to remind one of the customs of the ancient people of Egypt 
who, during the X, XI, and XII Dynasties (3600 to 3300 B. C), 
placed pottery models of the dwellings of the living on the graves 
of the dead, "soul-houses" of various types and sizes, representing 
many forms of habitations and other structures. These were pre- 
pared as places for the soul to remain, to appease it and prevent it 
returning to the village. Could the dwelling-like covering over the 
graves of American aborigines have resulted from similar beliefs and 
desires ? 

A number of burials have been encountered at different times in 
the vicinity of Manhattan Island, on Staten Island, and near Pelham 
and other near-by places on the shore of the sound. A few years ago 
a Munsee cemetery was uncovered near Montague, New Jersey, where 
both flexed and extended burials were unearthed. This burial place 
evidently belonged to the transition period, the earlier graves being 
of the primitive form, the later containing various objects of Euro- 
pean make. The Munsee, just mentioned, formed one of the three 
principal divisions of the Delaware, and it is within reason to sup- 
pose that when some of the burials discovered in the cemetery at 



20 



BUREAU OF AMERICAN" ETHNOLOGY 



[bull. 71 



Montague had been made ceremonies had been enacted similar to that 
described by Heckewelder. He wrote: 

DELAWARE CEREMONY, 1762 

" I was present in the year 1762, at the funeral of a woman of the 
highest rank and respectability, the wife of the valiant Delaware 
chief Shingask; . . . all the honours were paid to her at her 
interment that are usual on such occasions. ... At the moment 
that she died, her death was announced through the village by 
women especially appointed for that purpose, who went through 
the streets crying, ' She is no more! She is no moreP The place on 
a sudden exhibited a scene of universal mourning; cries and lamen- 
tations were heard from all quarters." The following day the body 
was placed in a coffin which had been made by a carpenter em- 
ployed by the Indian trader. The remains had been " dressed and 
painted in the most superb Indian style. Her garments, all new, 
were set off with rows of silver broaches, one row joining the other. 
Over the sleeves of her new ruffled shirt were broad silver arm 
spangles from her shoulder down to her wrist, on which were bands, 
forming a kind of mittens, worked together of wampum, in the same 
manner as the belts which they use when they deliver speeches. Her 
long plaited hair was confined by broad bands of silver, one band 
joining the other, yet not of the same size, but tapering from the 
head downwards and running at the lower end to a point. On the 
neck were hanging five broad belts of wampum tied together at the 
ends, each of a size smaller than the other, the largest of which 
reached below her breast, the next largest reaching to a few inches 
of it, and so on, the uppermost one being the smallest. Her scarlet 
leggings were decorated with different coloured ribands sewed on, 
the outer edges being finished off with small beads also of various 
colours. Her mocksens were ornamented with the most striking fig- 
ures, wrought on the leather with coloured porcupine quills, on the 
borders of which, round the ancles, were fastened a number of small 
round silver bells, of about the size of a musket ball. All these 
things together with the vermilion paint, judiciously laid on, so as 
to set her off in the highest style, decorated her person in such a 
manner, that perhaps nothing of the kind could exceed it." Later, 
"the spectators having retired, a number of articles were brought 
out of the house and placed in the coffin." These included articles 
of clothing, a dressed deerskin for the making of moccasins, needles, 
a pewter basin, " with a number of trinkets and other small articles 
which she was fond of while living." The coffin was then closed, the 
lid being held in place by three straps. Across it were then placed 
three poles, 5 or 6 feet in length, " also fastened with straps cut up 



bdshnell] NATIVE CEMETERIES AND FORMS OF BURIAL 



21 



from a tanned elk hide; and a small bag of vermilion paint, with 
some flannel to lay it on, was then thrust into the coffin through the 
hole cut out at the head of it. This hole, the Indians say, is for 
the spirit of the deceased to go in and out at pleasure, until it has 
found the place of its future residence." Six persons then grasped 
the ends of the three poles and carried the coffin to the grave. The 
six consisted of four men, at the front and back, and two women 
between. " Several women from a house about thirty yards off, 
now started off, carrying large kettles, dishes, spoons, and dried elk 
meat in baskets, and for the burial place, and the signal being given 
for us to move with the body, the women who acted as chief 
mourners made the air resound with their shrill cries. The order of 
the procession was as follows : first a leader or guide, from the spot 
where we were to the place of interment. Next followed the corpse, 
and close to it Shingask, the husband of the deceased. He was fol- 
lowed by the principal war chiefs and counsellors of the nation, 
after whom came men of all ranks and descriptions. Then followed 
the women and children, and lastly two stout men carrying loads 
of European manufactured goods upon their backs. The chief 
mourners on the women's side, not having joined in the ranks, took 
their own course to the right, at the distance of about fifteen or 
twenty yards from us, but always opposite to the corpse." Thus 
they moved along for a distance of about 200 yards to the open 
grave, and when it was reached the lid was removed from the coffin, 
and "the whole train formed themselves into a kind of semilunar 
circle on the south side of the grave, and seated themselves on the 
ground, while the disconsolate Siting ash retired by himself to a spot 
at some distance, where he was seen weeping, with his head bowed 
to the ground. The female mourners seated themselves promiscuously 
near to each other, among some low bushes that were at the distance of 
from twelve to fifteen yards east of the grave. In this situation we 
remained for the space of more than two hours; not a sound was 
heard from any quarter, though the numbers that attended were 
very great ; nor did any person move from his seat to view the body, 
which had been lightly covered over with a clean white sheet. All 
appeared to be in profound reflection and solemn mourning. ... At 
length, at about one o'clock in the afternoon, six men stepped for- 
ward to put the lid upon the coffin, and let down the body into the 
grave, when suddenly three of the women mourners rushed from 
their seats, and forcing themselves between these men and the corpse, 
loudly called to the deceased to 4 arise and go with them and not for- 
sake them.' They even took hold of her arms and legs; at first it 
seemed as if they were caressing her, afterwards they appeared to 
pull with more violence, as if they intended to run away with the 



22 



BUREAU OF AMERICAN ETHNOLOGY 



[bull. 71 



body, crying out all the while, ' Arise, arise ! Come with us !' ... As 
soon as these women had gone through their part of the ceremony, 
which took up about fifteen minutes, the six men whom they had 
interrupted and who had remained at the distance of about five feet 
from the corpse, again stepped forward and did their duty. They 
let down the coffin into the earth, and laid two thin poles of about 
four inches diameter, from which the bark had been taken off, length- 
ways, and close together over the grave, after which they retired." 
The husband, SMngask, then came slowly forward and walked over 
the poles, and continued on to the prairie. Then a " painted post, 
on which were drawn various figures, emblematic of the deceased's 
situation in life and of her having been the wife of a valiant warrior, 
was brought by two men and delivered to a third, a man of note, 
who placed it in such a manner that it rested on the coffin at the head 
of the grave, and took great care that a certain part of the drawings 
should be exposed to the east, or rising of the sun; then while he 
held the post erect and properly situated, some women filled up the 
grave with hoes, and having placed dry leaves and pieces of bark 
over it, so that none of the fresh ground was visible, they retired, 
and some men, with timbers fitted before hand for the purpose, 
enclosed the grave about breast-high, so as to secure it from the 
approach of the wild beasts." 

After this food was prepared and passed about, then the presents 
were distributed, the many things which had been carried by the two 
men in the rear of the procession. Those who had rendered as- 
sistance were given the most valuable and highly prized pieces, but 
no one was omitted. Articles to the value of about $200 were thus 
given away. Men, women, and children alike were remembered. 
(Heckewelder, (1), pp. 264-270.) At dusk after the burial, a kettle 
of food was placed upon the grave, and this was renewed every 
evening for three weeks, after which time, so they thought, food 
was no longer required by the spirit. 

When an Indian died away from his village, so Heckewelder wrote 
(op. cit., p. 270), "great care is taken that the grave be well for- 
tified with posts and logs laid upon it, that the wolves may be pre- 
vented from getting at the corpse; when time and circumstances 
do not permit this, as, for instance, when the Indians are traveling, 
the body is inclosed in the bark of trees and thus laid in the grave. 
When a death takes place at their hunting camps, they make a 
kind of coffin as well as they can, or put a cover over the body, so that 
the earth may not sink on it, and then inclose the grave with a fence 
of poles." These scattered burials, made away from settlements, 
readily explain the occurrence of the isolated graves often found at 
the present time, and few if any objects of a lasting nature were 
deposited with the bodies. 



bushxell] NATIVE CEMETERIES AND FORMS OF BURIAL 



23 



Heckewelder did not give the exact location of the burial of the 
wife of the Delaware chief S king ask, although he gave the date, 1762, 
and elsewhere in his narrative mentioned living at that time " at 
Tuscarawas on the Muskingum." To have reached Tuscarawas he 
would have traversed the great trail leading westward from western 
Pennsylvania, passing the mouth of Beaver River, a stream which 
flows from the north and enters the right bank of the Ohio 
28J miles below Pittsburgh. On the map which accompanied Wash- 
ington's Journal, printed in London in 1751, a Delaware village is 
indicated on the right bank of the Ohio just below the mouth of 
the Beaver. Two years later, on a small map in the London Maga- 
zine for December, 1756, this Delaware village bore the name Shin- 
goes town, and so it continued on various maps until long after 
the Revolution, although the name was spelled in many ways. Un- 
doubtedly Shingash of Heckewelder was the Shingoe whose town 
stood at the mouth of the Beaver, and here occurred the burial of 
the wife of the Delaware chief, probably when Heckewelder was 
on his way to Tuscarawas, some miles westward. 

When Col. Bouquet traversed the same trail on his expedition 
against the native villages beyond the Ohio he crossed Beaver Creek. 
This was on Saturday, October 6, 1764, and there were then standing 
near the ford " about seven houses, which were deserted and destroyed 
by the Indians, after their defeat at Bushy Run, when they forsook 
all their remaining settlements in this part of the country." The 
battle of Bushy Run took place during the two days, August 5 and 6, 
1763, and consequently the village at the mouth of the Beaver, evi- 
dently Shingoes town, was abandoned the year after it was visited by 
Heckewelder, but the name continued on certain maps long after 
that time. 

Some very interesting references to the burial customs of the 
people of the same region, more particularly the Delaware, are con- 
tained in a work by another missionary. It was said that the place 
of burial was some distance from the dwellings, and that the graves 
were usually prepared by old women, as the younger members of the 
tribes disliked such work. " Before they had hatchets and other tools, 
they used to line the inside of the grave with the bark of trees, and 
when the corpse was let down, they placed some pieces of wood 
across, which were again covered with bark, and then the earth 
thrown in, to fill up the grave. But now they usually place three 
boards, not nailed together, into the grave, in such a manner that the 
corpse may lie between them. A fourth board being laid over it as a 
cover, the grave is filled up with earth. Now and then they procure 
a proper coffin. . . . If they have a coffin, it is placed in the 
grave empty. Then the corpse is carried out, lying upon a linen 
cloth, full in view, that the finery and ornaments, with all the effects 



24 



BUKEAU OF AMEKICAJST ETHNOLOGY 



[bull. 71 



left by the deceased, may appear to advantage, and accompanied by 
as great a number of friends as can be collected. It is then let down 
into the coffin, covered with the cloth, and the lid being nailed down, 
the grave is filled up with earth. During the letting down of the 
corpse the women set up a dreadful howl, but it is deemed a shame in 
a man to weep. Yet in silence and unobserved, they cannot refrain 
from tears. At the head of the corpse, which always lies towards the 
east, a tall post is erected, pointing out who is buried there, If the 
deceased was the Chief of a tribe or nation, this post is only neatly 
carved, but not painted. But if he was a captain, it is painted red, 
and his head and glorious deeds are pourtrayed upon it. This is also 
done in honor of a great warrior, his warlike deeds being exhibited in 
red colors. The burial-post of a physician is hung with small tortois- 
shells or a calabash, which he used in his practice. After the burial 
the greater part of the goods left by the deceased are distributed 
among those who assisted in burying him, and are not related to 
him. . . . After the ceremony is over, the mother, grandmother, 
and other near relations retire after sunset, and in the morning early, 
to weep over the grave. This they repeat daily for some time, but 
gradually less and less, till the mourning is over. Sometimes they 
place victuals upon the grave, that the deceased may not suffer 
hunger." And following this is an account of the mourning for the 
dead. (Loskiel, (1), pt. 1, pp. 119-121.) 

In the preceding description of the manner in which graves were 
prepared by the Delaware about the last years of the eighteenth cen- 
tury there is something quite suggestive of the stone-lined graves. In 
both instances pits were dug, to be lined in earlier days with thin, 
natural slabs of stone, and later, when boards were obtainable, they 
were used in the place of stones. Then when coffins were to be had 
they were looked upon as a ready-prepared grave lining, one which 
did not require any fitting together when placed inside the grave. 
And so the grave would be dug of a size to accommodate the wooden 
lining — the coffin — which had already been fastened together, and 
when the grave was thus lined the body would be placed within it. 
Such was the custom and such was the characteristic reasoning of the 
Indian. 

THE NANTICOKE 

The Nanticoke, who lived on the Eastern Shore of Maryland, 
were connected, linguistically, with the Delaware, and before the 
latter removed westward beyond the Alleghenies they were neigh- 
boring tribes. The Nanticoke were encountered by Capt. John Smith 
and his party of colonists from Jamestown in 1608, living on or 
near the river which continues to bear their tribal name. For many 
years they were enemies of the colonists, but remained in the region 



bdshnell] NATIVE CEMETERIES AND FORMS OF BURIAL 



25 



until about 1730, when the majority of the tribe began moving north- 
ward, stopping at the mouth of the Juniata, and elsewhere in the 
valley of the Susquehanna, at last arriving in southern New York 
on the eastern branch of the latter stream, where they rested under 
protection of the Iroquois, who then dominated that section. Tribal 
movements were often slow and deliberate, with stops of years on 
the way, and a generation elapsed between the starting of the N anti- 
coke from the Eastern Shore and their arrival among the Iroquois. 
Like many tribes, they removed the remains of the dead from their 
old home to their new settlements. This was witnessed by Hecke- 
welder, who wrote (op. cit., pp. 75-76): "These Nanticokes had 
the singular custom of removing the bones of their deceased friends 
from the burial place to a place of deposit in the country they dwell 
in. In earlier times they were known to go from Wyoming and 
Chemenk, to fetch the bones of their dead from the Eastern Shore of 
Maryland, even when the bodies were in a putrid state, so that they 
had to take off the flesh and scrape the bones clean, before they could 
carry them along. I well remember having seem them between 
the years 1750 and 1760, loaded with such bones, which, being fresh, 
caused a disagreeable stench, as they passed through the town of 
Bethlehem." 

One of the ancient Nanticoke sites, one probably occupied at the time 
of the discovery of the people by the Virginia colonists, stood on the 
left bank of Choptank River, some 2 miles below Cambridge, Dor- 
chester County, on the Eastern Shore of Maryland. This village was 
occupied until the year 1722, or until the tribe began their move- 
ment northward. Since this site was abandoned, sand, blown and 
drifted by the winds, has covered the original surface to a depth 
of many feet. And during the same interval the exposed face 
of the cliff has receded, caused by the encroachment of the 
waters of the Choptank. Now, as the result of these two natural 
phenomena, the surface once occupied by the village of the Nanti- 
coke appears on the face of the cliff as a dark line or stratum, from 
one-half to 1 foot in thickness, and extending for about one-third 
of a mile along the shore, thus proving the extent of the ancient 
settlement. At one point on the exposed face of the cliff a quantity 
of human bones were visible, and when examined this proved to be 
" a hard-set horizontal bed of human bones and skulls, many of them 
well preserved, about 1-J- to 2 feet thick, 10 feet long, 3 feet under 
the village site stratum," and further excavation showed this mass 
of bones to be " of irregular, circular shape, 25 feet in longest by 
20 feet in shortest diameter and 1J to 2 feet thick (thickest in the 
middle, and tapering at the sides)." A short distance inward and 
directly above the larger deposit was another mass of bones, this 
being about 7 feet long, 7 inches thick, and 2 feet wide. The 



26 



BUREAU OF AMERICAN ETHNOLOGY 



[bull. 71 



two deposits were separated by about 1J feet of sand. "In the 
main or lower deposit some of the bones had, others had not, been 
subjected to fire. The bone layer might have been subdivided thus: 
First, the bottom (6 inches), where the bones were in small frag- 
ments, blackened and bedded in masses of charcoal and ashes; sec- 
ond, the middle, next above (5 to 10 inches), where the skulls and 
bones, though somewhat charred, were intact; and third, the top 
(6 to 8 inches), where the bones, though mixed with bits of char- 
coal, showed no direct trace of fire. The conditions proved that 
many skeletons had been burned in the lower part of the main bed." 
The bones in the smaller deposit " were generally intact in tolerable 
preservation, and in spite of the bits of scattered charcoal found 
with them, showed no direct signs of charring.'' (Mercer, (1) : pp. 
93-94.) 

Ossuaries of this form are not characteristic of any Algonquian 
tribe, but at once suggest the customs of the Huron and other north- 
ern Iroquoian people. This large deposit of human remains may 
have resulted through some great emergency, at some time when it 
became necessary to dispose of many bodies which were placed in 
one common grave, rather than preparing a separate one for each. 
Single graves have been exposed on the face of the cliff, evidently 
near the ossuaries, which tends to prove this particular spot to have 
been the cemetery adjoining the ancient village. 

The county of Dorchester is bounded on the southeast by the 
Nanticoke River, and human remains have been discovered on the 
right bank of the stream just above the village of Vienna, and un- 
doubtedly many other burial places have been encountered within 
this region, once comparatively thickly peopled, no records of which 
are preserved. 

THE POWHATAN CONFEDERACY 

It is to be regretted that more is not known concerning the burial 
customs of the Algonquian tribes of Virginia, those who constituted 
the Powhatan confederacy, people with whom the Jamestown colo- 
nists came in contact during the spring of 1607. Several accounts are 
preserved, but unfortunately all are lacking in detail. Capt. Smith 
included burial customs under the general caption Of their Religion, 
and in 1612 wrote : 

" But their chiefe God they worship is the Divell. Him they call 
Oke and serve him more of feare than love. They say they have 
conference with him, and fashion themselves as neare to his shape 
as they can imagine. In their Temples, they have his image evill 
favouredly carved, and then painted and adorned with chaines, cop- 
per, and beads; and covered with a skin, in such manner as the de- 
formity may well suit with such a God. By him is commonly the 



bdshnell] NATIVE CEMETERIES AND FORMS OF BURIAL 



27 



sepulcher of their kings. Their bodies are first bowelled, then dryed 
upon hurdles till they bee verie dry, and so about the most of their 
jointes and necke they hang* bracelets or chaines of copper, pearle, 
and such like, as they use to weare : their inwards they stuffe with 
copper beads and cover with a skin, hatchets, and such trash. Then 
lappe they them very carefully in white skins, and so rowle them in 
mats for their winding sheetes. And -in the Tombe, which is an arch 
made of mats, they lay them orderly. What remaineth of this kinde 
of wealth their kings have, they set at their feet in baskets. These 
Temples and bodies are kept by their Priests In every Terri- 

tory of a weroioance is a Temple and a Priest or 2 or 3 more. Their 
principall Temple or place of superstition is at V ttarnussach at Pama- 
unke, neare unto which is a house Temple or place of Powhatans. 
Upon the top of certaine redde sandy hils in the woods, there are 3 
great houses filled with images of their kings and Divels and Tombes 
of their Predecessors. Those houses are neare 60 foot in length, 
built arbor wise, after their building. This place they count so holy 
as that none but the Priestes and kings dare come into them: nor 
the Savages dare not go up the river in boats by it, but that they 
solemnly cast some peece of copper, white beads, or Pocones, into 
the river, for feare their Oke should be offended and revenged of 
them." (Smith, (1), pp. 75-76.) 

Strachey's account of the burial customs does not differ greatly 
from the preceding; both writers referred to the same time and 
generation, and few of the natives then living had ever seen a white 
man until the coming of the Jamestown colonists in 1607. 

A temple or tomb similar to those described by Smith was en- 
countered by the English on the coast of North Carolina during the 
summer of 1585, at which time it was sketched by the artist John 
White, a member of the second expedition sent out by Sir Walter 
Ealeigh. The original drawing, together with many others made at 
the same time, is preserved in the British Museum, London. A pho- 
tograph of the original is now reproduced in plate 3, b. The legend 
on the sketch reads : " The Tombe of their Cherounes or chiefe per- 
sonages their flesh clene taken of from the bones save the skynn 
and heare of theire heads, wch flesh is dried and enfolded in matts 
laide at theire feete, their bones also being made dry ar covered w th 
deare skynns not altering their forme or proportion. With theire 
Kywash, which is an Image of woode keeping the deade." 

This drawing was engraved and used by De Bry as plate 22 in 
Hariot's Narrative, published in 1591. But in the engraving the 
tomb, as drawn by White, is represented as placed within an in- 
closure, evidently the " temple," and this would conform with the 
legend near one of the buildings shown standing at the village of 
Secotan. In White's view of this ancient town the structure in the 



28 



BUKEAU OF AMERICAN" ETHNOLOGY 



[BULL. 71 



lower left corner bears this description : " The howse wherin the 
Tombe of their werowans standeth." This is copied in plate 3, a, 
being a detail from the large sketch of Secotan. It is evident from 
the early drawing that the so-called " tomb " was an elevated plat- 
form erected within a structure of ordinary form, and the whole 
must have resembled rather closely the " temples " or " bone-houses " 
of certain Muskhogean tribes of the south, as will be shown later. 
But unfortunately nothing is told by the old writers of the final dis- 
position of the human remains which were first placed in the " tem- 
ples," as at Secotan. Later they may have been collected and de- 
posited in graves, or they may have become scattered and lost, but 
this is doubtful. 

The temple tombs; as already described, appear to have stood 
near, or rather belonged to, the larger, more permanent settlements, 
and so became the resting places of the more important dead of the 
community. However, it is quite evident the remains of the chief 
men were not placed in ordinary graves, even though a " temple " 
was not available. This is of great interest and is revealed in a 
deposition made by one Francis Tomes, relating to the Wyanoak or 
Weanoc, in the year 1661, after they had removed southward from 
the banks of the James. The deposition reads in part : " Then came 
in sight of the Wyanoak Indian Town which was on the South Side 
of Wyanoak River where they forded over to the town wherein stood 
an English built house, in which the King had been shott & an apple 
Orchard. From thence they went about two or three miles to the 
Westward where in an elbow of a swamp stood a Fort near which 
in the swamp the murdered King was laid on a scaffold & covered 
with Skins & matts which I saw." (Virginia Magazine, (1), p. 3.) 

But a simpler form of burial existed among the native inhabitants 
of tidewater Virginia, and probably the great majority found their 
final resting places in graves prepared near the villages. Smith 
wrote (op. cit., p. 75) : " For their ordinary burials, they digge a deep 
hole in the earth with sharpe stakes ; and the corpses being lapped in 
skins and mats with their jewels, they lay them upon sticks in the 
ground, and so cover them with earth. The buriall ended, the women 
being painted all their faces with black cole and oile, doe sit 24 
howers in the houses mourning and lamenting by turnes, with such 
yelling and howling as may express their great passions." 

Very few ancient burial places have been discovered within the 
region described by Smith, or probably it would be more correct to 
say few records of such discoveries, if made, have been preserved, 
therefore it is gratifying to find a single reference which tends to 
verify Smith's account of "their ordinary burials." This refers to 
discoveries made about the year 1835 on the right bank of the Chicka- 
hominy, in Charles City County, Virginia, on the land of Col. J. S. 



bushnell] NATIVE CEMETERIES AND FORMS OF BURIAL 



29 



Stubblefield. It mentioned a large shell heap which extended for 
some 150 yards along the bank of the stream and had a width of 
from 30 to 40 yards, and continued by saying : "In this deposite of 
shells are found a number of human bones of all sizes, from the 
smallest infant to the full grown man, interred in pits of various 
size, and circular form ; and in each pit are found intermingled, 
human bones of every size. Standing in one place I counted fifty 
of these hollows, from each of which had been taken the remains 
of human beings who inhabited this country before the present race 
of whites." (Christian, (1), p. 150.) 

This site does not appear to have been known to Capt. Smith, as 
no town is shown by him as standing on the right bank of the river, 
in what would probably have been included in the present Charles 
City County. The burials discovered in 1835 may have been made 
before the days of the colony. 

WEST OF THE ALLEGHENIES 

The burial customs of some western Algonquian tribes were, in 
many respects, quite similar to those of the New England Indians. 
It will be recalled that soon after the Mayflower touched at Cape Cod 
a party of the Pilgrims went ashore and during their explorations 
discovered several groups of graves, some of which " had like an 
Indian house made over them, but not matted." They may when 
erected have been covered with mats. The similarity between this 
early reference and the description of certain Ojibway graves, two 
centuries and more later, is very interesting. Writing from "Ameri- 
can Fur Company trading establishment, Fond du Lac, July 30, 
1826," McKenney told of an Ojibway grave then standing at that 
post, near the extreme southwestern corner of Lake Superior. " They 
Indians' graves are first covered over with bark. Over the grave 
the same shelter is made, and of the same materials, as enter into the 
form and structure of a lodge. Poles are stuck into the ground, and 
bent over, and fastened at the top ; and these are covered with bark. 
Thus the grave is inclosed. An opening is left like that in the door 
of a lodge. Before this door (I am describing a grave that is here), 
a post is planted, and the dead having been a warrior, is painted red. 
Near this post, a pole is stuck in the ground, about ten feet long. 
From the top of this pole is suspended the ornaments of the de- 
ceased. From this, I see hanging a strand of beads, some strips of 
white fur, several trinkets, six bits of tobacco, that looked like quids, 
and a little frame of a circular form, with net work, in the center of 
which (it being of thread) is fastened a scalp, about three inches in 
diameter, the hair of which is of a dark brown colour, and six inches 
long. In the top of the red post are three feathers." (McKenney, 
(1), pp. 283-284.) 



30 



BUREAU OF AMERICAN ETHNOLOGY 



[bull. 71 



Three days before, on July 27, McKenney entered in his journal : 
" We are yet about eighteen miles from the Fond du Lac. At this 
place, Burnt river is a place of divination, the seat of a jongleux^s 
incantations. It is a circle, made of eight poles, twelve feet high, 
and crossing at the top, which being covered in with mats, or bark, he 
enters, and foretells future events!" 

The manner in which the bodies had been placed in the graves 
of the Fond du Lac cemetery was probably similar to that fol- 
lowed by other members of the tribe, as described by one well versed 
in the customs of the Ojibway: "When an Ojibway dies, his body 
is placed in a grave, generally in a sitting posture, facing the west. 
With the body are buried all the articles needed in life for a jour- 
ney. If a man, his gun, blanket, kettle, fire steel, flint, and moc- 
casins; if a woman, her moccasins, axe, portage collar, blanket and 
kettle." (Warren, (1), pp. 72-73.) And following this is an ac- 
count of the Ojibway belief of happenings after death; how "the 
soul is supposed to stand immediately after the death of the body, 
on a deep beaten path, which leads westward." He first comes to 
strawberries, which he gathers to eat on the way, and soon " reaches 
a deep, rapid stream of water, over which lies the much dreaded 
Ko-go-gaup-o-gun or rolling and sinking bridge." Thence, after 
traveling four days, and camping at night, " the soul arrives in the 
land of spirits," where all is joy and happiness. 

A form of scaffold burial was known to the same people, but 
never practiced to any great extent. Such a burial was seen by 
McKenney standing on an island in St. Louis River, opposite the 
American Fur Co.'s establishment, during the summer of 1826. He 
wrote at that time : " One mode of burying the dead, among the 
Chippeways, is, to place the coffin, or box, containing their remains, 
on two cross pieces, nailed, or tied with wattap to four poles. The 
poles are about ten feet high. They plant near these posts, the wild 
hop, or some other kind of running vine, which spreads over and 
covers the coffin. I saw one of these on the island, and as I have 

described it. It was the coffin of a child about four years old 

I have a sketch of it. I asked the chief why his people disposed 
of their dead in that way? He answered, they did not like to put 
them out of their sight so soon by putting them under ground. Upon 
a platform they could see the box that contained their remains, and 
that was a comfort to them." (Op. cit., pp. 305-306.) 

The sketch mentioned was undoubtedly drawn by J. O. Lewis and 
was used as an illustration in. McKenney 's narrative. This is now 
reproduced in plate 4, a, while in b of the same plate is shown a 
view of the buildings of the American Fur Co. as they then stood 
at Fond du Lac, derived from the same work and drawn by the 
same artist. Across the stream are the wigwams of the Indians, and 



BUSHNELL] 



NATIVE CEMETERIES AND FORMS OF BURIAL 



31 



near the lower right corner of the picture are two small inclosures, 
two small cemeteries, the smaller belonging to the Indians, the 
larger being reserved for the whites. 

Three years before McKenney visited Fond du Lac the expedi- 
tion led by Maj. S. H. Long traversed the country of the Ojibway, 
and when describing the burial customs of the tribe it was said : 

" The usual mode of disposing of their dead consists in interring 
them. It has been observed that the Chippewa graves are always 
dug very deep, at least 6 or 8 feet; whereas the Dacotas make but 
shallow graves. Great respect is paid by the Chippewas to the 
corpses of their distinguished men; they are wrapped up in cloths, 
blankets, or bark, and raised on scaffolds. We heard of a very dis- 
tinguished chief of theirs, w T ho died upwards of 40 years since, and 
was deposited on a scaffold near Fort Charlotte, the former grand 
depot of the North-west Company. When the company were induced 
to remove their depot to the mouth of the Kamanatekwoya, and con- 
struct Fort William, the Indians imagined that it would be unbecom- 
ing the dignity of their friend to rest anywhere but near a fort; 
they therefore conveyed his remains to Fort William, erected a scaf- 
fold near it, and upon it they placed the body of their revered chief ; 
whenever there is occasion for it they renew its shroud. As a mark 
of respect to the deceased, who was very friendly to white men, 
the company have planted a British flag over his remains, which 
attention was extremely gratifying to the Indians." (Keating, (1), 
II, pp. 159-160.) This would have been about 175 miles northeast 
of Fond du Lac, as Fort William stood on the mainland, north of 
Isle Royale, in Lake Superior. Fort Charlotte was at the end of 
Grand Portage, some 25 miles southwest of Fort William, and conse- 
quently nearer Fond du Lac. 1 

Eef erring to the Ojibway belief in a future state after death, the 
same writer remarked : 

" The Chippewas believe that there is in man an essence, entirely 
distinct from the body; they call it 6'chechag, and appear to 
apply to it the qualities which we refer to the soul. They be- 
lieve that it quits the body at the time of death, and repairs to 
what they term Cheke Chekchekame. This region is supposed to be 
situated to the south, and on the shores of the Great Ocean. Previous 
to arriving there they meet with a stream, which they are obliged 
to cross upon a large snake that answers the purpose of a bridge. 
Those who die from drowning never succeed in crossing the stream ; 
they are thrown into it, and remain there forever. Some souls come 
to the edge of the stream, but are prevented from passing by the 
snake that threatens to devour them ; these are the souls of persons 
in a lethargy or trance. Being refused a passage, these souls re- 
turn to their bodies and reanimate them. They believe that animals 



32 



BUREAU OF AMERICAN ETHNOLOGY 



[BULL. 71 



have souls, and. even that inorganic substances, such as kettles, etc., 
have in them a similar essence. In this land of souls all are treated 
according to their merits. Those who have been good men are 
free from pain ; they have no duties to perform ; their time is spent 
in dancing and singing, and they feed upon mushrooms, which are 
very abundant. The souls of bad men are haunted by the phantoms 
of the persons or things that they have injured; thus, if a man has 
destroyed much property, the phantoms of the wrecks of this prop- 
erty obstruct his passage wherever he goes; if he has been cruel to 
his dogs or horses they also torment him after death ; the ghosts of 
those whom during his lifetime he wronged are there permitted to 
avenge their injuries. They think that when a soul has crossed the 
stream it can not return to its body, yet they believe in apparitions, 
and entertain the opinion that the spirits of the departed will fre- 
quently revisit the abodes of their friends, in order to invite them 
to the other world, and to forewarn them of their approaching dis- 
solution." (Op. cit., pp. 158-159.) 

It is quite evident that the widely separated members of this great 
tribe held different beliefs regarding the state after death, and it 
would also appear that such beliefs were influenced or dictated by 
their natural environment. Thus in the cold, bleak forests of the 
north, where the winters were long and severe, they looked to the 
south as the home of the departed, where warmth would prevail, and 
where the days would be passed in dancing and singing. 

Some years earlier, in 1764, an English trader described the death 
and burial of a child near the north shore of Lake Superior while 
approaching Michilimackinac. The Indians were engaged in making 
maple sugar when — 

"A little child, belonging to one of our neighbours, fell into a 
kettle of boiling syrup. It was instantly snatched out, but with 
little hope of its recovery. 

" So long, however, as it lived, a continual feast was observed ; 
and this was made to the Great Spirit and Master of Life, that he 
might be pleased to save and heal the child. At this feast, I was a 
constant guest; and often found difficulty in eating the large quan- 
tity of food, which, on such occasions as these, is put upon each man's 
dish. The Indians accustom themselves both to eat much, and to fast 
much, with facility. 

" Several sacrifices were also offered ; among them were dogs, killed 
and hung upon the tops of poles, with the addition of stroud blankets 
and other articles. These, also, were given to the Great Spirit, in 
humble hope that he would give efficacy to the medicines employed. 

"The child died. To preserve the body from the wolves, it was 
placed upon a scaffold, where it remained till we went to the lake, 
on the border of which was the burial-ground of the family. 



bushnell] 



NATIVE CEMETERIES AND FORMS OF BURIAL 



33 



" On our arrival there, which happened in the beginning of April, 
I did not fail to attend the funeral. The grave was made of a large 
size, and the whole of the inside lined with birch-bark. On the bark 
was laid the body of the child, accompanied with an axe, a pair 
of snow-shoes, a small kettle, several pairs of common shoes, its own 
strings of beads, and — because it was a girl — a carrying-belt and a 
paddle. The kettle was filled with meat. 

"All this was again covered with bark; and at about two feet 
nearer the surface, logs were laid across, and these again covered 
with bark, so that the earth might by no means fall upon the corpse. 

" The last act before the burial, performed by the mother, crying 
over the dead body of her child, was that of taking from it a lock of 
hair, for a memorial. While she did this, I endeavoured to console 
her, by offering the usual arguments; that the child was happy in 
being released from the miseries of this present life, and that she 
should forbear to grieve, because it would be restored to her in 
another world, happy and everlasting. She answered, that she 
knew it, and that by the lock of hair she should discover her 
daughter ; for she would take it with her. In this she alluded to the 
day, when some pious hand would place in her own grave, along with 
the carrying-belt and paddle, this little relic, hallowed by maternal 
tears." (Henry, (1), pp. 149-151.) 

The same writer, in recording certain beliefs of the people, said 
(pp. 151-152) : 

"I have frequently inquired into the ideas and opinions of the 
Indians, in regard to futurity, and always found that they were 
somewhat different, in different individuals. Some suppose their 
souls to remain in this world, although invisible to human eyes ; and 
capable, themselves, of seeing and hearing their friends, and also of 
assisting them, in moments of distress and danger. Others dismiss 
from the mortal scene the unembodied spirit, and send it to a distant 
world or country, in which it receives reward or punishment, ac- 
cording to the life which it has led in its prior state. Those who 
have lived virtuously are transported into a place abounding with 
every luxury, with deer and all other animals of the woods and 
water, and where the earth produces, in their greatest perfection, 
all its sweetest fruits. While, on the other hand, those who have 
violated or neglected the duties of this life, are removed to a barren 
soil, where they wander up and down, among rocks and morasses, 
and are stung by gnats, as large as pigeons:" 

This agrees remarkably with the later statements made by Keating, 
as already quoted. 

The scaffold burials mentioned in the preceding quotations do not 
appear to have been the true form so extensively used by the tribes 
130548°— 20 3 



34 



BUREAU OF AMERICAN ETHNOLOGY 



[bull. ?1 



farther west, especially up the valley of the Missouri. There a plat- 
form was constructed between four or more supports, some 6 or 8 feet 
above the ground, and on this platform the body was placed after 
being wrapped and bound with skins or some other covering. These 
were of a more temporary nature. 

THE MENOMINI 

The Menomini, whose home when first encountered by Europeans 
during the early years of the seventeenth century was west of Lake 
Michigan, evidently possessed many customs quite similar to those 
of the Ojibway. Their dead were usually deposited in excavated 
graves, but they also had some form of scaffold burial. (PI. 5, a.) 

The Menomini formerly disposed of their dead by inclosing the 
bodies in long pieces of birchbark or in slats of wood, and burying 
them in a shallow hole. When not in the neighborhood of birch or 
other trees, from which broad pieces of bark could be obtained, some 
of the men would search for the nearest dugout, from which they 
would cut a piece long enough to contain the body. In some in- 
stances sections of hollow trees were used as coffins. In order to 
afford protection against wild beasts, there were placed over the 
grave three logs — two directly on the ground and the third on the 
others. They were prevented from rolling away by stakes driven 
into the earth. [Plate 5, represents the old method of protecting 
graves.] 

" More modern customs now prevail with the greater body of the 
tribe, and those who have been Christianized adopt the following 
course: A wooden coffin is made and the body laid out in the ordi- 
nary manner. The burial takes place usually the day on which 
death occurs. The graves are about 4 feet deep. Over the mound 
is erected a small board structure resembling a house. . . . This 
structure measures about 5 feet in length and 3 feet high. In the front 
and near the top is an opening through which the relations and 
friends of the deceased put cakes of maple sugar, rice, and other 
food — the first fruits of the season. In some grave-boxes, imme- 
diately beneath the opening, there is placed a small drawer, which 
is used for the same purpose as the opening. Sometimes even on 
the grave-boxes of Christianized Indians, the totem of the clan to 
which the deceased belonged is drawn in color or carved from a 
piece of wood and securely nailed. These totemic characters are 
generally drawn or attached in an inverted position, which is de- 
notive of death among the Menomini as among other tribes. Around 
the grave-boxes clapboard fences are usually erected to keep stray 
animals from coming near, and to prevent wayfarers and sacri- 
legious persons from desecrating the graves. An ordinary 4 worm ' 
fence is also sometimes built for the same purpose. 



bcshnell] NATIVE CEMETERIES AND FORMS OF BURIAL .35 

"Among the non-Christianized Menomini the grave covering is of 
a slightly different character. These grave-boxes are more like an 
inverted trough, as shown in plate 5, c, which illustrates the graves 
of the late chief Osh'kosh and his wife. The openings in the head 
end of the box are used for the introduction of ordinary food, as 
well as maple sugar and other tributes of the first fruits of the year, 
on which the shade of the departed may feast before it finally sets 
out for the land of the dead. Formerly, also, bodies were scaffolded, 
or placed in trees, according to the wish of the deceased. In some 
instances it was customary to dress and paint the body as during 
life, seat it on the ground facing the west — in the direction of the 
path of the dead toward the land of Naq'pote — when a log inclosure, 
resembling a small pen, was built around it. In this manner the 




Fig. 1. — Menomini graves. 



corpse was left. . . . Mourners blacken their 'faces with charcoal or 
ashes. Formerly it was sometimes customary to add pine resin to 
the ashes, that the materials might remain longer on the skin, and 
a widow was not presumed to marry again until this substance had 
entirely worn off. In some instances of great grief, the hair above 
the forehead was cropped short." (Hoffman, (1), pp. 239-241.) 
Typical graves are shown in figure 1. 

Quite similar to the preceding were graves discovered in the vicin- 
ity of Prairie du Chien, near the banks of the Mississippi, when 
visited by Maj. Long's party in June, 1823. The graves resembled 
those of the whites, but they were " covered with boards or bark, 
secured to stakes driven into the ground, so as to form a sort of 
roof over the grave; at the head, poles were erected for the pur- 
pose of supporting flags; a few tatters of one of these still waved 
over the grave. An upright post was also fixed near the head, and 
upon this the deeds of the deceased, whether in the way of hunting 



36 



BUREAU OF AMERICAN ETHNOLOGY 



[BULL. 71 



or fighting, were inscribed with red or black paint. The graves 
were placed upon mounds in the prairie, this situation having doubt- 
less been selected as being the highest and least likely to be over- 
flowed." (Keating, (1), L pp. 244-245.) 

The use of ancient mounds as places of burial by later Indians, 
as witnessed near Prairie du Chien, was followed extensively 
throughout the upper Mississippi Valley and elsewhere. In the 
spring of 1900 the Ojibway living on the south shore of Mille Lac, 
Minnesota, were utilizing the summits of ancient mounds for this 
purpose, and on one mound standing near the village of Sagawamick 
were thirteen very recent graves, covered with the box-like covers of 
hewn logs, on one end of which was cut or painted the totem of the 
deceased. Some were surrounded by stakes, designed to protect the 
burial. This site was once occupied by the Mdewakanton, by whom 
the mounds were evidently reared. Later they were driven south- 
ward by the Ojibway, and this became the principal village of the 
Misisagaikaniwininiwak. This will explain the origin of the many 
shallow burials, a foot or more below the surface, encountered in 
mounds east of the Mississippi. 

A small sketch of several scaffolds, resembling that described by 
McKenney, appeared in Lahontan's narrative in 1703. This is re- 
produced in figure 2. This form of scaffold may have been found 
throughout the Algonquian country bordering Lake Superior and 
Lake Huron, and was probably that mentioned by Charlevoix, only 
a few years after Lahontan. 

CREMATION 

More than a century before McKenney made his tour of the Lakes 
and stopped at Detroit during the month of June, 1826, Charlevoix 
traversed much of the' same on his way to the country of the Illinois, 
and thence down the Mississippi. At that time the Missisauga, a 
tribe closely related to the Chippewa, and of which they may be 
considered a subtribe or division, lived on the shores of Lake St. 
Clair and the vicinity, and here Charlevoix saw their scaffold burials. 
Referring to the several tribes with whom he had come in contact, 
he wrote: "When an Indian dies in the time of hunting, his body 
is exposed on a very high scaffold, where it remains till the departure 
of the company, who carry it with them to the village. There are 
some nations who have the same custom, with respect to all their 
dead; and I have seen it practised among the Missisaguez at the 
Narrows. The bodies of those who are killed in war are burnt, 
and the ashes carried back, in order to be deposited in the sepulchres 
of their ancestors. These sepulchres, among those nations who are 
best fixed in their settlements, are a sort of burial grounds near the 
village." (Charlevoix, (1), II, p. 189.) This was written in 1721. 



bdshnell] NATIVE CEMETERIES AND FORMS OF BURIAL 



37 



Another reference to the burning, of bodies was prepared about 
the same year, and proves that others besides those of persons killed 
in war were so consumed. "An Officer of the regular Troops has 
informed me also, that while he had the Command of the Garrison 
at Oswego, a Boy of one of the far Westward Nations died there; 
the Parents made a regular Pile of split Wood, laid the Corps upon 
it, and burnt it; while the Pile was burning, they stood gravely 
looking on, without any Lamentations, but when it was burnt down, 
they gather up the Bones with many Tears, put them into a Box, and 
carried them away with them." (Colden, (1), p. 16.) 

It would be interesting to know more of the details of this native 
ceremony, and to know the name of the tribe to which the family 



/ he rtiiUieiv of y" c/etccp'd 




77w rclnttem 6 Jecec^ct 
'.< Zantac 



Fig. 2. — Scaffold burials, from Lahontan. 

belonged. Oswego, near the southeastern corner of Lake Ontario, 
in the land of the Onondaga, was £he site of an English fort erected 
in 1721. It soon became a gathering place for the Indians and 
traders coming from the west, and much of the Indian trade which 
had formerly been transacted by the French at Montreal was 
diverted to this new post. It is easy to imagine that during one 
of these journeys from their distant home on a western lake or 
river the child of an Indian family died, and his parents, desiring 
to bury him near their native village, burned the body, then col- 
lected the ashes and charred bones, and carried them away, as related 
by an English officer nearly two centuries ago. 

Probably cremation was resorted to in many instances as a means 
of reducing the difficulty of removing the remains from the place of 
death to the locality where it was desired they might be deposited; 



38 



BUREAU OF AMERICAN ETHNOLOGY 



[bull. 71 



but if some statements of the early French are to be accepted, cer- 
tain tribes must have attached some superstitious belief to the act 
of burning the bodies of their dead. A very interesting description 
was recorded by the Jesuit, Pere Sebastien Rasles, of what he wit- 
nessed and learned of the custom among the Ottawa during his stay 
among that tribe in the winter of 1691-92. He told how certain 
divisions of the tribe burned their dead while others interred the 
remains. However, his account may not be true to fact, although 
written according to his belief. (Rasles, (1), pp. 154-159.) 

Another reference to the burning of bodies is to be found in Radis- 
son's account of his Fourth Voyage into the great northern wilder- 
ness. He and his companions left Quebec sometime in the early 
part of the } T ear 1661, and were soon joined by a party of Indians 
who belonged to some western Algonquian tribe living in the vicin- 
ity of Lake Superior. Shortly after coming together, while passing 
in their canoes along a certain stream where the banks were close 
together, they met a number of Iroquois. In the fierce encounter 
which ensued Radisson's friendly Indians lost two killed and seven 
wounded. And alluding to the former he wrote : " We bourned our 
comrades, being their custome to reduce such into ashes being slained 
in bataill. It is an honnour to give them such a buriall." (Radis- 
son (1), p. 133.) But unfortunately he failed to tell of the final dis- 
position of the ashes, whether they were carried by their companions 
to their villages on the shores of the distant lakes, and there buried, 
or left in the country where they had been slain. To have been car- 
ried away to their homes would have been more consistent with the 
native customs, and would more readily explain the cremation of the 
remains, to reduce the bulk, and thereby really make it possible to 
transport them so great a distance under such adverse conditions. 

Charlevoix spent several weeks during the summer of 1721 among 
the Indians just south of Lake Michigan. These were probably 
Miami, although he undoubtedly^ saw members of other tribes as 
well. Writing at this time, and probably having the Miami in mind, 
he said: "As soon as the sick person has fetched his last breath, 
the whole cabbin resounds with lamentations, which continue as long 
as the family is in a condition to furnish the expence ; for open table 
must be kept during all that time. The carcass adorned with its 
finest robe, the face painted, the arms of the deceased, with every 
thing he possessed laid by his side, is exposed at the gate of the 
cabbin, in the same posture in which he is to lie in the tomb, and 
that is in many places, the same with that of a child in the womb. 
* * * It appears to me that they carry the corpse to the place 
of burial without any ceremony * * * but when they are once 
in the grave, they take care to cover them in such manner that the 
earth does not touch them : so that they lie as in a cell entirely cov- 



bdshnell] NATIVE CEMETERIES AND FORMS OF BURIAL 



39 



creel with skins, much richer and better adorned than any of their 
cabbins. A post is afterwards erected, on which they fix every thing 
capable of expressing the esteem in which they held the deceased. 
* * * Fresh provisions are carried to the place every morning, 
and as the clogs and other beasts do not fail to take advantage of 
this, they would fain persuade themselves that it is the soul of the 
deceased, who comes to take some refreshment." (Charlevoix, (1), 
II, pp. 187-188.) 

This may have been intended as a general statement of the customs 
of the tribes whom he had met during his journey, although written 
while among the Miami, but its greatest value is the manner in which 
the origin and cause of the flexed burial is explained, and this would 
probably apply to the eastern as well as to the western Algonquians. 

" THE ILLINOIS COUNTRY " 

The term Illinois Indians as used by some early writers was in- 
tended to include the various Algonquian tribes, encountered in the 
" Illinois country," in addition to those usually recognized as form- 
ing the Illinois confederacy. Thus, in the following quotation from 
Joutel will be found a reference to the Chahouanous — i. e., Shaw- 
nee — as being of the IsUnois, and in the same note Accancea referred 
to the Quapaw, a Siouan tribe living on the right bank of the Mis- 
sissippi, not far north of the mouth of the Arkansas. Describing 
the burial customs of the Illinois, as witnessed by him during the 
latter years of the seventeenth century, Joutel wrote : x " They pay a 
Respect to their Dead, as appears by their special Care of burying 
them, and even of putting into lofty Coffins the Bodies of such as 
are considerable among them, as their Chiefs and others, which is 
also practised among the Accancea's, but they differ in this Particu- 
lar, that the Acccmcea's weep and make their Complaints for some 
Days, where as the C hahouaaious and other People of the Islinois 
Nation do just the Contrary ; for when any of them die, they wrap 
them up in Skins, and then put them into Coffins made of the Barks 
of Trees, then sing and dance about them for twenty four Hours. 
Those Dancers take Care to tie Calabashes, or Gourds about their 
Bodies, with some Indian Wheat in them, to rattle and make a Noise, 
and some of them have a Drum, made of a great Earthen Pot, on 
which they extend a wild Goat's Skin, and beat thereon with one 
Stick like our Tabors. During that Rejoicing, they throw their 
Presents on the Coffin, as Bracelets, Pendents, or Pieces of Earthen 
Ware, and Strings of Beads, encouraging the Singers to perform 
their Duty well. If any Friend happens to come thither at that 
Time, he immediately throws down his Present and falls a singing 
and dancing like the rest. When that Ceremony is over, they bury 



40 



BUKEAU OF AMERICAN ETHNOLOGY 



Lbull. 71 



the Body, with part of the presents, making choice of such as may be 
most proper for it. They also bury with it, some Stores of Indian 
Wheat, with a Pot to boil it in, for fear the dead Person should be 
hungry on his long Journey; and they repeat the same Ceremony 
at the Year's End. A good Number of Presents still remaining, 
they divide them into several Lots, and play at a Game, call'd of the 
Stick to give them to the Winner." (Joutel, (1), pp. 174-175.) 

From this very interesting account of the burial customs of the 
Illinois Indians it is evident they had several ways and methods 
of disposing of their dead. Some were placed in "lofty coffins," 
which undoubtedly refers to a form of tree or scaffold burial, and 
in this connection it is interesting to know that when settlers entered 
Truro township, in the present Knox County, Illinois, a few miles 
west of the ancient Peoria village on the Illinois River, they found 
tree burials of quite recent origin. Logs had been split in halves 
and hollowed out, and so served as coffins which rested in forks of 
trees some 10 to 15 feet above the ground. These remained in this 
position until about the year 1836, when they were removed by the 
settlers and buried in the earth. These must have been the "lofty 
coffins" of Joutel. But the bodies were not always so securely 
protected, and in the year 1692, within a short time of Joutel's visit, 
another Frenchman referred to the burial customs of the Illinois 
and said : " It is not their custom to bury the dead ; they wrap them 
in skins, and hang them by the feet and head to the tops of trees." 
(Rasles, (1), p. 167.) And touching on the ceremonies which at- 
tended the burial, the same Father wrote : " When the Illinois are 
not engaged in war or hunting, their time is spent either in games, 
or at feasts, or in dancing. They have two kinds of dances ; some are 
a sign of rejoicing, and to these they invite the most distinguished 
women and young girls; others are a token of their sadness at the 
death of the most important men of their Tribe. It is by these 
dances that they profess to honor the deceased, and to wipe away 
the tears of his relatives. All of them are entitled to have the death 
of their near relatives bewailed in this manner, provided that they 
make presents for this purpose. The dances last a longer or shorter 
time according to the price and value of the presents, which, at the 
end of the dance, are distributed to the dancers." (P. 167.) 

And when settlers arrived near the banks of the Mackinaw, a 
tributary of the Illinois, near the present village of Lexington, 
McLean County, Illinois, in 1843, they discovered a body of an In- 
dian wrapped in bark and suspended in a tree top. The body was 
taken down and buried in what is now called Indian Burial Ground, 
some 2-| miles southeast of Lexington. 

It is interesting to be able to trace other burial places and burial 
customs of the western Algonquian tribes in comparatively recent 



BDSHNELL] NATIVE CEMETERIES AND EORMS OE BURIAL 



41 



times. After the Battle of Tippecanoe, fought November 7, 1811, 
the Indians who fell in that memorable encounter are said to have 
been buried on the summit of a ridge, running north and south and 
bounded on the west by the Middle Fork of Vermilion River and 
on the east by a deep ravine, about 5J miles west of the present Dan- 
ville, Vermilion County, Illinois. This region was then occupied 
by roving bands of different tribes, including members of the Shaw- 
nee. In the early years of the last century, just after the settlement 
of the village of Gosport, Owen County, Indiana, the Shawnee chief, 
Big Fire, died, and his body was taken in a canoe 10 miles on the 
West Fork of White River, to a place where the party landed. A 
stretcher was there made by interlacing bark between two long 
poles. The body was then placed upon the stretcher and carried to 
the grave by four men. Arriving at the grave the body "was 
painted, dressed in his best blanket and beaded mocassins, and 
buried along with his ornaments and war weapons. The grave was 
three feet deep, lined with rough boards and bark. Over it was 
planted an oak post, five feet high, eight inches square, tapering to 
a point, which was painted red. The monument was often visited 
and long revered by the band. It has disappeared within a few 
years." (Collett, (1), p. 324.) Stretchers similar to the one just 
mentioned were undoubtedly used quite extensively by the Indians 
in conveying their dead or wounded comrades from place to place. 
One, illustrated by Schoolcraft from a painting by Eastman, is now 
reproduced in plate 11, a. " The mode of carrying the sick or wounded 
is in a litter on two poles lashed together, and a blanket fastened on 
to it." (Schoolcraft, (2), II, p. 180.) Probably barks, skins, or 
mats were used in earlier times, later to be followed by the blankets 
obtained from the traders. 

The Delaware village of Greentown stood on the left bank of the 
Black Fork of the Mohican, in Ashland County, Ohio. The settle- 
ment was abandoned in 1812, when the families removed and erected 
a new village at Piqua, on the Great Miami. The site of old Green- 
town was soon under cultivation by the whites. The area was 
examined during the summer of 1876, at which time it was said 
"the southern portion of the site is still in woods, and the depres- 
sions that mark the graves are quite distinct. ... In some cases 
the remains were inclosed in a stone cist; in others small, rounded 
drift bowlders were placed in order around the skeletons. The long 
bones were mostly well preserved. No perfect skull was obtained, 
nor were there any stone implements found in the graves. At the 
foot of one a clam shell was found. The graves are from two and 
one-half to three feet deep, and the remains repose horizontally." 
(Case, (1), p. 598.) The apparent lack of European objects asso- 



42 



BUREAU OF AMERICAN ETHNOLOGY 



[BULL. 71 



ciatecl with these burials is quite contrary to the usual custom. Often 
many pieces obtained from the traders are to be found in the later 
Indian graves, and an interesting example was discovered at the 
site of a large Shawnee town which stood where Frankfort, Eoss 
County, Ohio, was later reared. From the burial place of the 
ancient Indian town "numerous relics are obtained, gun barrels, 
copper kettles, silver crosses and brooches, and many other imple- 
ments and ornaments." (Squier and Davis, (1), pp. 60-61.) 

Such are the numerous small cemeteries discovered throughout the 
region west of the mountains. Each proves the position, at some time, 
of a native settlement, some of probably not more than two or three 
wigwams, the temporary camping place of a few families during the 
hunting or fishing season. Others mark the location of a more im- 
portant tribal center. Long after the upper Ohio Valley was aban- 
doned by the people who had erected the great earthworks it became 
the home of other tribes, or rather it became the hunting grounds of 
many tribes, but it was not occupied by any large native towns. Later, 
about the beginning of the eighteenth century, when the Shawnees 
were, forced northward from the valleys of Tennessee, and other Algon- 
quian tribes began seeking new homes to the westward beyond the 
mountains, the upper valley of the Ohio became repeopled by a native 
population, and to these later settlements may be attributed the great 
majority of burials now encountered within the region. The towns 
were moved from place to place as requirements and natural causes 
made necessary, and with each movement a new cemetery was soon 
created. Such a movement of the inhabitants of a Shawnee village 
about the middle of the eighteenth century is graphically described 
in a journal of one who witnessed the catastrophe which made it 
necessary : 

" On the Ohio, just below the mouth of Scioto, on a high bank, 
near forty feet, formerly stood the Shawnesse town, called the Lower 
Town, which was all carried away, except three of four houses, by a 
great flood in the Scioto. I was in the town at the time, though the 
banks of the Ohio were so high, the water was nine feet on the top, 
which obliged the whole town to take to their canoes, and move with 
their effects to the hills. The Shawnesse afterwards built their town 
on the opposite side of the river, which, during the French war, they 
abandoned, for fear of the Virginians, and removed to the plains on 
Scioto." (Croghan, (l),p. 368.) 

And this was only one of many similar instances where a compara- 
tively small number of individuals occupied during a single genera- 
tion many sites and left at each site a small group of graves. 

Scattered over the western country, throughout the region once fre- 
quented by the fur trader and missionary, are often to be found traces 



bushnell] NATIVE CEMETERIES AND FORMS OF BURIAL 



43 



of their early posts or settlements, and probably many burials which 
have erroneously been attributed to the Indians could be traced to 
these sources. It has already been shown that at the establishment of 
the American Fur Co., standing at Fond du Lac in 1826, were two 
small cemeteries, one for the whites and the other for the Indians. 
This may have been the custom at many posts, but now, were these 
graves examined, it would probably be quite difficult to distinguish 
between the two. 

An ancient French cemetery evidently stood not far from the banks 
of the Illinois, probably within the limits of the present city of Peoria. 
It was mentioned just 70 years ago in a description of the valley of 
the Illinois, and when referring to the native occupants of the rich and 
fertile region : 

" This little paradise was until recently possessed by the Peoria 
Indians, a small tribe, which has since receded; and tradition says 
there was once a considerable settlement of the French on the spot. I 
was informed there is an extensive old burial place, not of Indian 
origin, somewhere on or near the terrace, and noticed that not a few 
of the names and physiognomies in this quarter were evidently 
French." (Paulding, (l),p. 17.) 

If discovered at the present time these remains would be in a con- 
dition which would make it difficult to distinguish them from those 
of Indians, unless associated objects of European origin would serve 
to identify them. And down the valley of the Illinois has been dis- 
covered a native Indian cemetery dating from about the same period 
as the old French cemetery at Peoria. It was evidently one of much 
interest. " Upon the banks of the river at Naples are the burying- 
grounds of the modern Indian, in which have been found many 
stone implements intermingled with civilized manufactures, such as 
beads, knives, crosses of silver, and other articles indicating traffic 
with the French during, probably, the latter part of the 17th and 
the first half of the 18th centuries. . . . The pottery exhumed 
from this ancient cemetery shows that it was the common burial- 
place of the race that built at least a part of the mounds." (Hender- 
son, (1) , p. 719.) 

However, Indians were sometimes buried in the small French 
Catholic cemeteries, and it may be recalled that when Pontiac was 
murdered, in the year 1769, near the village of the Cahokia, on the 
eastern bank of the Mississippi, his body was claimed by the French, 
carried across the river in a canoe, and placed in the cemetery belong- 
ing to the church. This stood on the summit of the ridge, then 
probably surrounded by the virgin forest ; now the site is covered by 
buildings, on the southeast corner of Fifth and Walnut Streets, in the 
city of St. Louis. But all traces of this ancient burying ground have 
long since disappeared. 



44 



BUREAU OF AMERICAN ETHNOLOGY 



[bull. 71 



STONE-LINED GRAVES 

Stone graves — that is, small excavations which were lined or partly 
lined with natural slabs of stone — have been encountered in great num- 
bers in various parts of the Mississippi Valley. They are discovered 
scattered and separate ; in other instances vast numbers are grouped to- 
gether, thus forming extensive cemeteries. While the great majority 
were formed by lining properly prepared excavations, others were 
created by erecting one upon another, forming several tiers, and 
covering all with earth, so forming a mound. In and about the city 
of Nashville, on the banks of the Cumberland, in Davidson County, 
Tennessee, such burials have been revealed in such great numbers 
that it is within reason to suppose the region was once occupied by a 
sedentary people who remained for several generations, and must 
have had an extensive village near by. It will be recalled that the 
Shawnee occupied the valley in the early years of the eighteenth cen- 
tury, and that a French trader was there in 1714. A mound standing 
near Nashville was examined in the summer of 1821, and writing of 
it Haywood said : " This is the mound upon which Monsieur Charle- 
ville, a French trader, had his store in the year 1714, when the 
Shawanese were driven from the Cumberland by the Cherokees and 
Chickasaws. It stands on the west side of the river, and on the north 
side of French lick creek, and about 70 yards from each. It is round 
at the base. About 30 yards in diameter, and about 10 feet in 
height, at this time." The mound was examined and much charcoal, 
traces of fire beds, a few objects of stone, and bits of pottery were 
found. And telling of the later history of the mound the writer 
continued: "The mound also had been stockaded by the Cherokees 
between the years 1758 and 1769. . . . Very large burying grounds 
once lay between the mounds and the river, thence westwardly, 
thence to the creek." (Haywood, (1), pp. 136-138.) 

Although from this statement it would appear that many graves 
had already been destroyed before the close of the first quarter of the 
last century, nevertheless vast numbers remained to be examined at 
a later day. About 20 years after Haywood wrote, another account 
of the cemeteries in the vicinity of Nashville was prepared, at which 
time it was told that " We have one near the suburbs of our town, 
which extends from near the Cumberland river almost to Mr. Mac- 
gavoc's ; it is about one mile in length, how much in breadth I cannot 
say, the road and houses cover one side, and a cultivated field the 
other ; in this field is a tumulus which is now worn down. From the 
part that I have examined of this grave-yard, I found that the stone 
coffins were close to one another, situated in such a manner that each 
corpse - was separated only by a single stone from the other ; about 
one and one-half or two miles from this, on the other side of the 



bushnell?] NATIVE CEMETERIES AND FORMS OF BURIAL 



45 



Cumberland river, is another burying ground, where the graves are 
equally numerous. At Cockerel's Spring, two or two and one-half 
miles from the first mentioned, is another ; and about six miles from 
Nashville, on the Charlotte road, we have another ; at Hayesborough, 
another; so that in a circle of about ten miles diameter, we have 
six extensive burying grounds. . . . As to the form of the graves, 
they are rude fabrics, composed of rough flat stones (mostly a kind 
of slaty limestone or slaty sandstone, both abundant in our State). 
Such flat stone was laid on the ground in an excavation made for the 
purpose; upon it were put (edgewise) two similar stones of about 
the same length as the former, and two small ones were put at both 
extremities, so as to form an oblong cavity lined with stones, of the 
size of a man ; the place for the head and feet had the same dimen- 
sions. When a coffin was to be constructed next to it, one of the side 
stones serves for both, and consequently they lay in straight rows, 
in one layer only, I never found one above the other." (Troost, (1), 
pp. 358-359.) 

This very graphic description of a stone grave would apply 
equally well to those discovered in widely separated parts of the 
country. But it was not always possible to secure pieces of stone of 
sufficient size to allow a single one to serve as the side of a grave, 
in which event it was necessary to place several on each side. Again, 
the graves were made of a size to correspond with that of the body 
which was to be placed within it, and therefore they varied in length 
and breadth. Others which were prepared to hold a bundle of 
bones after the flesh had been removed, or had disappeared, were 
quite short — the latter were the "pygmy graves" of the early 
writers. 

About 9 miles from Nashville is a hill " on which the residence of 
Colonel Overton stands . . . was in former times occupied by an 
aboriginal settlement. The circular depressions of the wigwams are 
still visible." (Jones, Joseph, (1), p. 39.) Many stone graves were 
discovered here, " the earth having been excavated to the depth of 
about eighteen inches, and the dimensions of the excavation corre- 
sponding to the size of the skeleton. The sides of each were lined 
with carefully selected stones, forming a perfect parallelogram, with 
a single stone for the head and foot. The skeleton or body of the 
dead person was then deposited at full length. In the square short 
grave the skull was placed in the centre and surrounded by the long 
bones." Jones made another very interesting observation and dis- 
covered that " some of the small graves contained nothing more than 
bones of small animals and birds. The animals appeared to be a 
species of dog, also rabbits, raccoons, and opossums. The bones of 
birds appeared to belong to the wild turkey, eagle, owl, hawk, and 
wild duck. Occasionally bones of these animals and birds were 



46 



BUREAU OF AMERICAN ETHNOLOGY 



[bull. 71 



found in the large graves along with the bones of human adults." 
(Op. cit., pp. 7-9.) 

It may be difficult to determine the explanation of this strange 
custom, but similar discoveries have been made elsewhere in the 
southern country. Westward, across the Mississippi in Crittenden 
and Mississippi Counties, Arkansas, Moore encountered bones of 
birds in graves associated with human remains. Bones identified 
belonged to the swan, goose, and turkey. And, as will be shown 
later, the Creeks within historic times buried various animals with 
or near the dead, and this may have been the survival of a more 
ancient custom. 

In addition to the extensive cemeteries, similar graves were ar- 
ranged above the original surface and a mass of earth reared over 
them. A most interesting example of such a mound was described 
by Jones. It stood on the bank of a small stream about 10 miles 
from Nashville, and measures some 55 feet in diameter and 12 feet in 
height, and " contained perhaps one hundred skeletons, the stone 
graves, especially towards the center of the mound, were placed one 
upon the other, forming in the highest part of the mound three or 
four ranges. The oldest and lowest graves were of the small square 
variety, whilst those near or upon the summit, were of the natural 
length and width of the skeletons within. In this mound as in other 
burial places, in the small square stone graves, the bones were fre- 
quently found broken, and whilst some graves contained only a por- 
tion of an entire skeleton others contained fragments of two or more 
skeletons mingled together. The small mound now under considera- 
tion, which was one of the most perfect in its construction, and the 
lids of the upper graves so arranged as to form an even, round, shelv- 
ing rock surface, was situated upon the western slope of a beauti- 
ful hill, covered with the magnificent growth of the native forest. 
The remains of an old Indian fortification were still evident, sur- 
rounding an extensive encampment, and several other mounds. The" 
graves of the mausoleum which chiefly engaged my attention were 
of all sizes, arranged in various directions, with no special reference 
to the points of the compass. In a large and carefully constructed 
stone tomb, the lid of which was formed of a flat rock over seven 
feet in length and three feet in width, I exhumed the bones of what 
was supposed to be an ancient Indian chief, who had passed his 
hundred summers. The skeleton was about seven feet in length and 
the huge jaw had lost every vestige of a tooth, the alveolar processes 
being entirely absorbed. From another sarcophagus near the base of 
the mound, were exhumed the bones of an Indian of gigantic stature 
and powerful frame, who died apparently in middle life." (Jones, 
Joseph. (2).) 



BUSHNELL] 



NATIVE CEMETERIES AND FORMS OF BURIAL 



47 



Another mound of equal interest, although of a somewhat different 
interior arrangement, was described by the same writer in the same 
manuscript volume. This stood on the eastern bank of the Cumber- 
land, opposite Nashville, and just across from the mouth of Lick 
Branch. It was about 100 feet in diameter and 10 feet in height, and 
near by was a larger mound. "In the centre of the mound, about 
three feet from its surface, I encountered a large sacrificial vase, or 
altar, forty-three inches in diameter, composed of a mixture of clay 
and river shells. The rim .of the vase was three inches in height. 
The entire vessel had been moulded in a large wicker basket formed 
of split canes and the leaves of the cane, the impressions of which 
were plainly visible upon the outer surface." Within this were the 
antlers and jaw bone of a deer, and a layer of ashes about 1 inch in 
depth which seemed to have been derived from burning animal 
matter. " Stone sarcophagi were ranged round the central altar, 
with the heads of the dead to the centre, and the feet to the circum- 
ference, resembling the radii of a circle. The inner circle of graves 
was constructed with great care, and all the Indians buried around 
the altar were ornamented with beads of various kinds, some of which 
had been cut out of bone, and others again were composed of entire 
sea-shells, punctured so as to admit of the passage of the thread upon 
which they were strung. ... A circle of graves extended around the 
inner circle which we have described as radiating from the altar. 
The stone coffins of the outer circle lay at right angles to the inner 
circle, and rested, as it were, at the feet of the more highly honored 
and favored dead. In the outer graves no ornaments were found, 
only a few small arrowheads, and fragments of shells and pots." 
Objects of shell, and an effigy vase, copper pendants, etc., were as- 
sociated with the burials in the inner circle of graves. Two skeletons 
were discovered on the southern slope of the mound, but their graves 
had not been lined with stones. Near one, supposed to have been 
the remains of a woman, was a beautiful vessel "composed of a 
mixture of light yellow clay and shells . . . and was painted with 
regular black figures." Beneath the skull of the second burial, 
probably that of a man, "lay a splendid stone hatchet, with the 
entire handle, and ring at the end of the handle, cut out of a compact 
green chloritic primitive mineral." (Op. cit.) 

Graves in the vicinity of Nashville, as well as elsewhere, were in 
some instances lined with fragments of large earthenware vessels, 
similar to the one discovered in the mound just described. These 
were the great " salt pans," or evaporating dishes, which may have 
been used for various purposes, but primarily for the evaporation 
of water from the salines. In referring to pieces of these large 
cloth-marked vessels found on different sites near Nashville, it was 



48 



BUREAU OF AMERICAN ETHNOLOGY 



[bull. 71 



said " The graves are frequently lined and covered with them, instead 
of slabs of stone." (Thruston, (1), p. 159.) And again (p. 29): 
" Many of the graves in the vicinity of Nashville are lined with large, 
thick fragments of broken pottery, as neatly joined together as if 
molded for the purpose." The fragments were merely employed as a 
substitute for the thin slabs of stone, and therefore eliminated the 
labor of obtaining the latter. The use of similar fragments for a 
like purpose, in cemeteries farther north, will be mentioned on a sub- 
sequent page. 

Stone-lined graves have been discovered in many widely sepa- 
rated places, both north and south of the Ohio, but in no other 
locality were they so numerous as in the vicinity of Nashville, Ten- 
nessee, and seldom were they found so carefully constructed as 
there. But the variations in form and size may be attributed rather 
to the material available for their lining than to the difference in 
the skill of the native by whom they were made. To illustrate the 
variations and the manner in which the graves differed, it will be 
necessary to refer briefly to several scattered groups. 

During his explorations along the valley of the Tennessee Moore 
examined mounds on Swallow Bluff Island, Decatur County, one 
of which was some 18 feet in height with a diameter of about 130 
feet. This was considered a domiciliary mound, and around the 
margin of the summit plateau were discovered numerous stone-lined 
graves, but none was found in the central part of the top. An ex- 
ample of these burials is illustrated in plate 6, a, showing the grave 
after the removal of the cover stones, revealing the partly flexed 
skeleton; the same grave before the removal of the cover, but 
after the excavation of the superimposed and surrounding mass of 
earth. In describing this burial Moore wrote : " Burial No. 12, 
a few inches from the surface, was a fine example of the stone 
box-grave, the sides and ends upright, the covering slabs resting 
squarely on them. This grave, oblong, 3 feet 8 inches by 2 feet 5 
inches, had the sides and ends of single slabs, except at one point 
where there were two slabs. Surrounding the grave small gaps 
had been filled with slabs of inconsiderable size; other unimportant, 
spaces had been left uncovered. The top was composed of three 
large slabs forming a single layer, the one at the lower end of the 
grave, however, having another slab upon it, forming a double 
layer at this place. The inside measurements of this grave were 3 
feet 3 inches by 1 foot 8 inches. Its depth was 1 foot 1 inch." 
(Moore, (4), pp. 213-214.) 

It is extremely doubtful if the builders of the mound were respon- 
sible for the stone graves. The latter were probably of a much 
more recent date, and should therefore be regarded as intrusive 



bushnell] NATIVE CEMETERIES AND FORMS OF BURIAL 49 



burials. Continuing up the Tennessee, making many interesting dis- 
coveries on the way, the party reached Henry Island, near Gunters- 
ville, Marshall County, Alabama. At the head of the island were 
several mounds, one of which had been worn down to a height of 
about 1 foot. Much of the work had evidently been destroyed, 
but in the remaining portion were several graves, one of which, a 
stone-lined grave, was of much interest. It is shown in plate 7 
before and after the removal of the top stones. It had an extreme 
outside length of 6 feet 8 inches and a width of 3 feet. Inside it 
measured 5 feet 10 inches in length, 2 feet 2 inches in width, and 
1 foot 7 inches in depth. " This grave, of the regular stone-box 
variety, was made of limestone slabs carefully arranged, the slabs 
having been set a number of inches into the ground below the base 
of the grave, which was neatly floored with slabs in contact, the 
small spaces between the larger ones having been filled with frag- 
ments of a suitable size. A large single slab was upright at the 
head, which was directed SE. ; another, at the feet." (Moore, (4) , 
pp. 280-289.) 

This grave contained an extended skeleton, determined to have 
been that of an adult male. 

Similar graves were discovered as far up the river as James 
County, Tennessee, a short distance beyond Chattanooga. 

A mound in which were many intrusive stone graves, and therefore 
resembling the one examined on Swallow Bluff Island, stood on a 
high hill about 2 miles from Franklin, Williamson County, Tennes- 
see. It was about 20 feet in height and 400 feet in circumference. The 
mound was examined and " about four feet from the top, we came 
to a layer of graves extending across the entire mound. The graves 
were constructed in the same manner as those found in the ceme- 
teries . . . that is, of two wide parallel slabs, about two and one- 
half feet long for sides, and with the bottom, head, and foot stones 
of the same material, making when put together, a box or sarcoph- 
agus. Each of these coffins had bones in it, some of women and 
children together, and others of men." (Clark, (1), pp. 269-276.) 

Two classes of mounds containing stone-lined graves have now 
been described. The first had been made up of several tiers of such 
graves, reared one upon another, and the whole covered with a mass 
of earth ; the second class included mounds in which such graves had 
later been prepared — intrusive burials in ancient mounds. Another 
class, though far less numerous than either of the others, each con- 
tained a single large grave. A most interesting example of this type 
was discovered and described by Moore. It stood on a high ridge, 
overlooking the valley of Green Eiver, in Butler County, Kentucky. 
130548°— 20 1 



50 



BUREAU OF AMERICAN ETHNOLOGY 



[BULL. 71 



Here were four mounds within a short distance of one another ; each 
had contained a single large grave, all of which had, unfortunately, 
been previously excavated. One mound, which measured 21 feet in 
diameter, contained a grave which measured inside 7 feet 10 inches 
in length and 3 feet 5 inches in width, " built of slabs and masses of 
sandstone and of limestone, the masses in nearly every case showing 
flat surfaces which had been utilized in the construction of the grave, 
giving it interiorly a comparatively regular surface." The large 
block on the left had been displaced by the roots of the tree. This 
large grave " had been regularly built up from the yellow, undis- 
turbed clay which served as a foundation, of slabs and blocks laid on 
their sides as in the case of walls, to a height of 2 feet 3 inches." 
Many large slabs which lay scattered about were supposed to have 
served as the cover of the grave. A few fragments of human bones 
were found within the inclosure. (Moore, (5), pp. 485-487.) This 
most interesting burial place is shown in plate 8, b. And how nu- 
merous the smaller graves were in the adjacent country may be 
learned from these references : In Warren County, " on the north 
bank of the river, near Bowling-Green, are a great many ancient 
graves, some of them with a row of stones set on edge around them. 
These graves, with a large mound on which large trees are growing, 
are included within the remains of an old fort built of earth. Some 
ancient relics were found here in 1838." (Collins, (1) , p. 542.) And 
of the adjoining county of Barren, when referring to a mound on 
Big Barren Kiver, 12 miles from Glasgow, in which stone graves 
were found, he said : " In the neighborhood, for half a mile or more, 
are found many of these graves" (p. 176). Again, when writing of 
discoveries made in Bourbon County, many miles northeast of the 
preceding, he told that " on all of the principal water courses in the 
county, Indian graves are to be found, sometimes single, but most 
frequently several grouped together. Single graves are usually in- 
dicated by broad flat stones, set in the ground edgewise around the 
skeleton; but where a number have been deposited together, rude 
stone walls were erected around them, and these having fallen in- 
wards, the rocks retain a vertical position, sometimes resembling a 
rought pavement" (p. 194). 

The latter must have resembled the burials encountered along the 
summits of the bluffs overlooking the Ohio, in Campbell County, 
Kentucky, and elsewhere. 

Although stone-lined graves are so numerous in the valleys south 
of the Ohio, and may be regarded the most characteristic form of 
burial practiced in that region,- nevertheless many other types of 
graves are to be encountered. During the past few centuries the coun- 
try in question was undoubtedly occupied, and possibly reoccupied, 
by various tribes belonging to different stocks and possessing unlike 



BUSHNELL] 



NATIVE CEMETERIES AND FORMS OF BURIAL 



51 



manners and customs in disposing of their dead. And here, as else- 
where east of the Mississippi, are found proofs of such tribal move- 
ments. Nor should all burials of a single type be attributed to one 
tribe or group of tribes, although there was undoubtedly a strong 
tendency to follow a traditional custom, and it is equally true that no 
one tribe practiced a single form of burial to the exclusion of all 
others. In addition to the forms of burial already described, others 
are found in the valleys of the streams flowing into the Ohio from 
the south, and of the cemeteries thus far discovered one of the most 
interesting, and one of unusual form, was encountered near the right 
bank of Green Eiver, in Ohio County, Kentucky. Here an area of 
more than an acre had become somewhat more elevated than the sur- 
rounding surface as the result of long-continued occupancy, the ac- 
cumulation of camp refuse, and natural causes. The site was par- 
tially examined and 298 burials were revealed. These included both 
adults and children. "The graves at this place were in the main 
roughly circular or elliptical. Their size, as a rule, was somewhat 
limited, there being usually but little space in them beyond that 
needed to accommodate the skeletons which, as a rule, were closely 
flexed, purposely, no doubt, for economy of space. In depth the 
burials ranged between one foot and eight feet five inches, many of 
them ending in the yellow sand (some being 2 feet, 3 feet, or excep- 
tionally nearly 4 feet in it) on which rested the made-ground com- 
posing the Knoll." (Moore, (5), pp. 444-480.) 

The photograph of one burial, designated as No. 132 in the account, 
is shown in plate 8, a. The body'had been closely folded and placed 
in a circular grave pit having a diameter of about 20 inches. This 
will suggest similar burials, some in Ohio, others as far east as 
the upper James River Valley, in Virginia. And decidedly different 
from any of the preceding was a great communal, or tribal, burial 
mound which stood on the lowlands of Buffalo Creek, near the Ohio, 
in Union County, Kentucky. The mound was partially examined and 
" on the west side bodies were found covered with six feet of earth, 
forming there about five separate layers. The bones of the lowest 
layer were so tender that they could not be removed. ... It would 
appear that the general plan of burial was to scrape the surface free 
from all vegetable matter, and deposit the body on its back, with the 
head turned to the left side. The bodies at the bottom of the heap, so 
far as could be ascertained by the examination, were buried without 
weapons, tools, or burial urns. ... To the depth of three feet from 
the surface, some of the bodies had with them burial urns. . . . 
Three or four tiers of skeletons, of later burials, were covered with 
clay. It is probable that as many as three hundred bodies, infant and 
adult, were buried in this mound. . . . Adults and children were 
buried together." (Lyon, (1), pp. 392-405.) 



52 BUREAU OF AMERICAN ETHNOLOGY [bull. 71 

This represented a type of burial mound encountered farther up the 
valley of the Ohio, a good example of which formerly stood within 
the city of Cincinnati. It was " in the center of the upper and lower 
town, on the edge of the upper bank. The principal street leading 
from the water is cut through the barrow, and exposes its strata and 
remains. . . . The dead repose in double horizontal tiers; between 
each tier are regular layers of sand, flat surface stones, gravel and 
earth. I counted seven tiers, and might have discovered more. . . . 
With the dead were buried their ornaments, arms and utensils." 
(Ashe, (l),pp. 185-190.) 

In the extreme northeastern corner of Indiana, almost due north of 
the preceding, was another mound of this type. In the southwest 
corner of Steuben County, on the north shore of Little Turkey Lake, 
stood a group of 10 small mounds. One of the group was examined 
and six strata of human remains were revealed, " distinctly separated 
by thin strata of earth ; the skeletons lay on their backs, extended full 
length?' Neither pottery nor implements occurred with the remains. 
(Levette, (l),p. 443.) 

Many groups of stone-lined graves have been discovered north of 
the Ohio. The majority of the groups are quite small and usually 
occupy a prominent point near a watercourse. 

It is a well-established fact that the Kaskaskia, and undoubtedly 
members of the other allied Illinois tribes, constructed stone-lined 
graves on the bluffs near the Mississippi, not far from the mouth of 
the Kaskaskia River, in Randolph County, Illinois, long after the 
removal of the Kaskaskia from their ancient village on the upper 
Illinois, very early in the eighteenth century. Some graves near the 
old French village of Prairie du Rocher, a short distance above the 
mouth of the Kaskaskia, were evidently made within a century, as 
" Mrs. Morude, an old Belgian lady who lives here, informed Mr. 
Middleton that when they were grading for the foundation of their 
house she saw skulls with the hair still hanging to them taken from 
these graves. It is therefore more than probable, and, in fact, is 
generally understood by the old settlers of this section, who derived 
the information from their parents, that these are the graves of the 
Kaskaskia and other Indians who resided here when this part of 
Illinois began to be settled by the whites." (Thomas, (1), p. 136.) 

The graves found here were of the usual forms, some containing 
skeletons extended at full length, others holding various bones which 
had been thus deposited after the removal of all flesh. With some 
were small earthenware vessels, but little else was associated with the 
fast crumbling remains. 

As the Algonquian tribes are known to have occupied both banks 
of the Mississippi along this part of its course it is reasonable to 
attribute the similar graves encountered on the right bank of the 



bdshnell] NATIVE CEMETERIES AND FORMS OF BURIAL 



53 



stream to the Illinois, who undoubtedly crossed back and forth as 
wants and desires made necessary. Across from Kaskaskia, a few 
miles northward, was the Saline River, a small stream along which 
were many salt springs, and these served to attract both Indians and 
French, who, by evaporating the brackish waters, secured a supply 
of salt. An extensive camp site stood near the mouth of the Saline, 
and stone-lined graves cov- 
ered the summits of the sur- 
rounding hills. Four graves 
were encountered on the" 
highest point just south of 
the site and proved of more 
than ordinary interest. None 
of the small group contained 
an extended burial, but in 
one which measured 5 feet 
in length and 18 inches in 
width were seven skulls and 
a large quantity of separated 
bones, all in a greatly decom- 
posed condition. Another of 
the graves presented several 
very interesting and unusual 
features. " The pieces of 
limestone used in forming 
the walls and bottom were 
rather smaller than were 
often employed. The ex- 
treme length was just 6 feet, 
and the width at the widest 
point 15 inches. This was 
divided into two compart- 
ments, the larger being 4 feet 
6 inches in length. In this 
were the bones of a single 
skeleton, disarticulated be- 
fore burial. Near the skull lay a small earthen vessel (Cat. No. 
278697, U.S.N.M.), which was saved. The smaller compartment was 
occupied solely by a skull, facing upward, and resting upon the stone 
which formed the bottom of the grave. It was quite evident that 
both sections were constructed at the same time, as stones on the 
bottom extended on both sides of the partition, and likewise the stone 
on the north wall. Another curious feature of this grave was the 
converging of the north and south walls to complete the inclosure 




Fig. 3. — Stone-lined grave, Ste. Genevieve, Mo. 



54 



BUREAU OF AMERICAN ETHNOLOGY 



[bull. 71 



at the eastern end." (Bushnell, (2), p. 653.) The grave is shown 
in figure 3. 

It was not possible to determine the extent of the ancient cemetery 
of which these four graves formed a part, but originally it may have 
been quite large. From the high point occupied by this group of 
burials it was possible to obtain a wide view of the valley across the 

p — . old bed of the Mississippi to the bluffs beyond 

the Kaskaskia, and to see the site of the Kas- 
JSZ kaskia town, created soon after the tribe had 

left their older village on the banks of the 




Fig. 4. — Small cemetery, Jefferson County, Missouri. 



ural beauty, ideally suited to a large native population, such as it 
undoubtedly sustained during the days before the coming of the 
French. 

Many similar groups of graves are scattered along the bluffs bor- 
dering the Mississippi and are less numerous inland. The salt springs 
of Jefferson County, Missouri, a little more than halfway between 
the mouth of the Saline on the south and the Missouri on the north, 



bushnell] NATIVE CEMETERIES AND FORMS OF BURIAL 



55 



served to attract the Indians, as did the springs near the former 
stream, already mentioned. About a mile inland from the small vil- 
lage of Kimmswick, up the valley of Rock Creek, were discovered 
several small cemeteries in the vicinity of springs. One occupied a 
small level area just above the principal spring, and when examined 
proved of the greatest interest. A plan of this curious group is given 
in figure 4, and as it included many uncommon features it may be of 
interest to describe the burials in detail. Pottery on the sides and 
bottoms of the graves refers to the use of fragments of large earthen- 
ware vessels in the place of stones. 

I. Stone at head, pottery bottom. Contained two skulls and man} 7 
bones. Length 4 feet 2 inches. 

II. Stones at ends, pottery sides and bottom. Traces of bones. 
Length 3 feet, width 1 foot, depth 11 inches. 

III. Stone sides and ends, pottery bottom. Extended skeleton. 
Length 6 feet 4 inches, width 1 foot 6 inches. 

IV. Stone at head, also large stone covering skull. Bones bunched. 

V. Stone sides and ends, two layers of pottery on bottom. Two 
skulls rested upon many bones. Earthenware dish between the skulls. 

VI. Pottery sides, ends, and bottom. Traces of extended skeleton. 
Length 4 feet 6 inches. 

VII. Similar to preceding. 

VIII. Stone sides, ends, and bottom. Contained four radii and 
four ulnse, no other bones. Also eight bone implements and a per- 
forated disk of wood, discolored by, and showing traces of, a thin 
sheet of copper. Length 2 feet 6 inches, width 11 inches, depth about 
1 foot. 

IX. Pottery sides, bottom, and ends, with one stone covering the 
entire grave. One skull and many bones. Length about 3 feet. 

X. End stones and two on north side remain, others fallen away. 
XL Stone sides and ends. Contained two skeletons, one above the 

other, separated by a layer of slabs of limestone extending from the 
shoulders to the feet. Length 6 feet 3 inches, width 1 foot 9 inches, 
depth 1 foot 8 inches. 

XII. Stone ends, pottery bottom. Traces of small skeleton ex- 
tended. Length about 5 feet. 

XIII. Stone sides and ends. Traces of bones. Length about 5 feet. 

XIV. Pottery sides, ends, and bottom. Was reduced in size. One 
skuH rested on mass of bones. 

XV. Pottery sides and ends. Small skeleton extended. Length 
4 feet. 

XVI. Stone sides and ends. Two skulls and scattered bones. 
Length 2 feet 5 inches, width 1 foot 4 inches. 



56 



BUKEAU OF AMERICAN ETHNOLOGY 



[bull. 71 



XVII. Pottery top and bottom. Traces of bones. Length about 
4 feet. • 

XVIII. Similar to preceding. 

XIX. Pottery bottom. Traces of small skeleton extended. Length 
about 4 feet. 

XX. Stone ends, pottery bottom. No traces of bones. Contained 
a large piece of galena. Length 3 feet 10 inches. 

XXI. Stone ends, pottery bottom. Three skulls rested upon many 
bones. Length 3 feet 4 inches. 

XXII. Pottery bottom. Traces of small skeleton extended. 
Thus it will be seen how great a variety of burials may be found 

in a single small cemetery. The bodies, when placed in the graves, 
were probably wrapped in mats or skins, which have long since 
disappeared, and in some instances bark may have served as a par- 
tial lining for the graves. This may explain the peculiar arrange- 
ment of XVII, XVIII, XIX, and others. The use of fragmentary 
pottery will recall the similar use of pieces of large vessels by the 
people who constructed the cemeteries in the vicinity of Nashville. 
The heads of all the bodies deposited in the graves just described 
were placed between X. 5° W. and S. 80° W. (magnetic). (Bush- 
nell, (3), pt. ii.) 

About 4 miles northwest of the preceding site, on the right bank 
of the Meramec, some 3 miles above its junction with the Mississippi, 
were many other graves, some of which were examined. Two of 
this group are shown in plate 9, a being that of a small child, with 
the bottom formed by a single stone; h that of an adult female. 
Large cemeteries are to be found on the Missouri shore north of the 
Missouri River, and it is interesting to know that intrusive stone 
graves were discovered near the summit of the " Big Mound " in 
St. Louis when it was removed in 1869. 

Now, as to the age of the stone-lined graves. From the account 
of the old inhabitants in the vicinity of Prairie du Rocher it is quite 
evident that many in that locality were constructed by members of 
the Illinois tribes after the middle of the eighteenth century, al- 
though it is remarkable that objects of European origin are seldom, 
if ever, met with in burials along the banks of the Mississippi. Nev- 
ertheless such objects have been discovered in similar graves to the 
eastward. A large cemetery has been described in the northwestern 
part of Sullivan County, Indiana, near the left bank of the Wabash. 
It is said to cover a space 150 feet in width by 650 feet in length. 
The graves were lined with pieces of sandstone, and when first seen 
the stones extended above the surface. The bottom of the burials 
averaged about 2 feet below the surface, and in some graves as many as 
five skeletons have been revealed. In some of these stone-lined graves 



bushnell] XATIVE CEMETERIES AND FORMS OF BURIAL. 



57 



gun barrels, iron knives, and other articles of European origin have 
been discovered, consequently they may not be older than those justly 
attributed to the Kaskaskia and their neighbors. 

One other cemetery may be mentioned to show the wide distribu- 
tion of this form of burial, although in the manner of covering the 
graves the makers differed somewhat from the usual method. The 
cemetery in question was in the southeastern part of Geauga County, 
in the far northeast corner of Ohio. Here " the graves were mostly 
constructed of flat stones, placed on edge at the sides and ends. They 
were paved and covered with the same flagging stones. . . . Over 



I iTiffliM 




Fig. 5. — Small mortuary bowl. 

these were piled loose stones. The location is a side hill, with a 
descent to the east. In one place the graves extended several rods 
up the hill in a line in such a manner that the foot of one grave made 
the head of the next and were all covered by a continuous pile of 
loose stone. This burial place has been almost entirely despoiled." 
(Luther, (1), p. 593.) 

No other form of burial is more widely dispersed in eastern United 
States than that just described, and stone-lined graves have been en- 
countered up the valley of the Ohio into Pennsylvania, western 
Maryland, and Virginia, and farther south they have been traced 



58 



BUKEAU OF AMERICAN ETHNOLOGY 



[bull. 71 



along the Tennessee from its mouth to the mountains, and a few 
scattered examples have been discovered in northern Georgia. Nat- 
urally the kind of stone with which they were lined differed in widely 
separated localities, but graves so formed appear to have been con- 
structed wherever suitable material was available, irrespective of 
the tribe who may have claimed or occupied the region. 

An interesting fact was revealed as a result of the exploration 
of the small groups of graves on the right bank of the Missssippi, 
already mentioned. In one of the four graves discovered on the 
ridge just below the mouth of the Saline were two small bowls, each 
about 4 inches in diameter and somewhat less in depth. They were 
made of clay without the admixture of crushed shell or sand. Both 
were very thin and fragile and would have been of no practical 
use to the living, and differed materially from all vessels apparently 
made for actual use in the wigwam. Many similar pieces, of the 
same size and material, were recovered from the graves farther 
north near Kimmswick, and the near-by burial places. The dis- 
covery of so many such bowls associated with burials leads to the 
belief that they were made solely for use in connection with burial 
ceremonies, and the finding of these small mortuary vessels in dif- 
ferent localities proved the connection of the people by whom the 
sites were occupied. The bowl found in Grave III is shown in 
figure 5. 

INCLOSUKES IN MOUNDS 

No attempt will be made at the present time to refer in detail to 
the many forms and variations of burials discovered in mounds 
north of the Ohio. Many reveal the bodies in an extended position, 
others in different degrees of folding, and in numerous instances the 
remains had been cremated and only the ashes placed in the tombs. 
In some mounds, evidently in some way associated with the human 
remains, are quantities of scattered animal bones often intermingled 
with wood ashes and charcoal, suggesting a feast or sacrifice at the 
time of burial of the dead. Again, many small masses of ashes dis- 
covered in mounds containing other forms of burials may be the 
cremated remains of some who had died away from their home vil- 
lage, and whose bodies had been burned by their companions, the 
ashes gathered up, and so carried to their homes. This, as told 
elsewhere in this sketch, was a recognized custom of the tribes of this 
region. But among the innumerable burials thus revealed are sev- 
eral distinct types, and the most interesting, excepting only the great 
structures encountered in southern Ohio, are the works in which 
the human remains had first been inclosed, or surrounded by walls 
of stones or logs, and in some instances of both stones and logs. 



bdshnell] NATIVE CEMETERIES AHD FORMS OF BURIAL 



59 



The vaults so made were often covered and floored with sheets of 
bark, logs, stones, or a combination of the different materials. In 
some the logs were placed upright, in others horizontally, but these 
details in construction may have been from individual tastes of the 
makers rather than proving any tribal custom. One of the most re- 
markable of these structures, one among the first of the ancient 
works to attract the attention of early travelers and to be described 
by them, is the high, conical mound near the left bank of the Ohio, 
in Marshall County, West Virginia, usually known as the Grave 
Creek Mound. And to quote from a work of 70 years ago, "The 
Grave creek mound, although it has often been described, deserves, 
from its size and singularity of construction, more than a passing 
notice. It is situated on the plain, at the junction of Grave creek 
and the Ohio river, twelve miles below Wheeling. * * * It is 
one of the largest in the Ohio valley ; measuring about seventy feet 




Fig. 6. — Grave Creek Mound. 



in height, by one thousand in circumference at the base. It was 
excavated by the proprietor in 1838. He sank a shaft from the apex 
of the mound to the base [fig. 6, a, &,] intersecting it at that point 
by a horizontal drift e, <?,]. It was found to contain two sepul- 
chral chambers, one at the base [&], and another thirty feet above 
[<?]. These chambers had been constructed of logs, and covered 
with stones, which had sunk under the superincumbent mass as the 
wood decayed, giving the summit of the mound a flat or rather dish- 
shaped form. The lower chamber contained two human skeletons 
(one of which was thought to be that of a female) ; the upper 
chamber contained but one skeleton in an advanced stage of decay. 
With these were found between three and four thousand shell beads, 
a number of ornaments of mica, several bracelets of copper, and 
various articles carved in stone. After the excavation of the mound, 
a light three-story wooden structure was erected upon its summit." 
(Squier and Davis, (1), pp. 168-169.) A view of the mound, figure 
56 in the work quoted, is reproduced in plate 15. 

A mound of rather unusual form, covering a log inclosure, stood in 
Hocking County, Ohio. A plan of this work is produced in figure 7. 



60 



BUREAU OF AMERICAN ETHNOLOGY 



[bull. 71 



It must have been the tomb of an important person, the burial 
place of some great man, highly esteemed by his companions. The 
mound is, as shown in the plan, surrounded by a ditch and embank- 
ment. " The mound, which covers the entire area, save a narrow 
strip here and there, is 115 feet long and 96 feet wide at base, with 




Secttorv. C. 



Fig. 7. — Inclosure in mound, Hocking County, Ohio. 

a height of 23 feet. . . . The surrounding wall and ditch are 
interrupted only by the gateway at the east, which is about 30 feet 
wide. The ditch is 3 feet deep and varies in width from 20 to 23 
feet. The wall averages 20 feet in breadth and is from 1 foot to 3 
feet high." The upper 5 feet of the mound was of yellow clay, the 
balance of the work being formed of dark surface soil. "At the base, 
30 feet from the south margin, was a bed of burnt clay, on which 
were coals and ashes. In the center, also at the base, were the re- 



bdshnell] NATIVE CEMETEKIES AND FORMS OF BURIAL 



61 



mains of a square wooden vault. The logs of which it was built were 
completely decayed, but the molds and impressions were still very 
distinct, so that they could be easily traced. This was about 10 feet 
square, and the logs were of considerable size, most of them nearly 
or quite a foot in diameter. At each corner had been placed a stout 
upright post, and the bottom, judging by the slight remains found 
there, had been wholly or partially covered with poles. . . . Near 
the center was the extended skeleton of an adult, head south, with 
which were enough shell beads to make a string 9 yards in length." 
(Thomas, (1), pp. 446-449.) 

Quite similar to the preceding was a burial discovered in Ross 
County, Ohio. This mound, having a height of 22 feet and a diame- 
ter of 90 feet, stood on the third terrace of the Scioto, about 5 miles 
below Chillicothe. During the course of the exploration of the work 
a stratum of ashes and charcoal was encountered at a depth of 10 
feet below the summit. This mass was from 2 to 6 inches in thick- 
ness and about 10 feet square, and " at the depth of 22 feet, and on a 
level with the original surface, immediately underneath the charcoal 
layer . . . was a rude timber framework now reduced to an al- 
most impalpable powder, but the cast of which was still retained in 
the hard earth. This inclosure of timber, measured from outside to 
outside, was 9 feet long by T wide, and 20 inches high. It had been 
constructed of logs laid one on the other, and had evidently been 
covered with other timbers, which had sunk under the superincum- 
bent earth as they decayed. The bottom had also been covered with 
bark, matting, or thin slabs — at any rate, a whitish stratum of de- 
composed material remained, covering the bottom of the parallelo- 
gram. Within this rude coffin, with its head to the west, was found 
a human skeleton." And associated with the human remains were 
many beads, again resembling the similar burial in Hocking County. 
(Squier, (2), pp. 164-167.) 

Burials of a like nature have been discovered westward to the Mis- 
sissippi, some very interesting examples having been found in the 
valley of the Illinois and the circumjacent country. 

A stone inclosure discovered in a mound in Rush County, Indiana, 
about 3J miles southwest of the village of Milroy, may be considered 
a typical example of this form of burial. The mound was 5 feet in 
height and 30 feet in diameter. It stood " on a bluff 20 feet high, at 
the foot of which flows the stream Little Flat Rock. . . . Inside 
of it was what might be termed a stone wall inclosing 10 feet 
square of the mound. Though the wall was not of perfect masonry, 
yet very evidently it was built for some purpose. . . . On top 
was common soil 18 inches deep, then clay, next clay and ashes, with 
coal mixed in it 2 feet thick; then a hardpan of clay, on top of 



62 



BUREAU OF AMERICAN ETHNOLOGY 



[BULL. 71 



which were three human adult skeletons and the skull of an infant, 
all side by side, with their feet toward the east. Around the neck 
of one were a number of copper and bone beads, the latter of which 
crumbled immediately. The copper ones were made of sheet copper 
rolled up." (Jackson, (1), pp. 374-376.) 

A mound in Whiteside County, Illinois, was found to cover an in- 
closure built of the " fossiliferous limestone common in the neigh- 
borhood. It was about three feet high, two feet thick at the top, and 
three feet at the base, piled up loosely, the lower stones broad and 
flat, rather heavier than one man could well carry. This inclosure 
was entirely at one side of the center of the mound." The inclosure 
was about 10 feet square and within it were human remains. (Pratt, 
(1), pp. 354-361.) 

All stone inclosures were not rectangular as were the two examples 
just described. Some were circular or oval in outline, and some of 
these were so formed as to converge near the top. Mounds of this 
nature are said to be quite numerous in Cass County, Illinois, where 
they occupy the summits of bluffs overlooking the Sangamon. 
" Earely exceeding eight or ten feet in height by twenty to thirty in 
diameter, and more frequently met of much smaller dimensions. The 
mode of inhumation in mounds of this kind consisted in placing the 
body or bodies (for they contain from one to six or eight each) of 
the deceased upon the ground in a sitting or squatting posture, with 
the face to the east, and inclosing them with a rudely-constructed 
circular wall of rough, undressed stones, which was gradually con- 
tracted at the top, and finally covered over with a single broad stone 
slab, over all of which the earth was heaped." Implements of bone, 
a few flint implements, and fragments of pottery of a poor quality 
are found in these burials. " I would conclude that the class of earth- 
works under consideration were very old were it not for the singular 
fact that in one of them, a few years ago, the decayed bones of a 
single individual were found, with a few flint arrow points, a small 
earthen cup or vase, and a iron gun-barrel very much corroded." 
(Snyder, (1), p. 572.) 

The discovery of the gun barrel in one of the mounds proves the 
latter to have been reared within two and one half centuries, un- 
doubtedly since the middle of the seventeenth century. Evidently 
the region was at one time comparatively thickly peopled. On the 
d'Anville map, published in 1755, the Sangamon appears as the 
Emicouen R. On the left bank of the stream, some 35 miles above 
its junction with the Illinois, is indicated the site of the Ancien 
village des Metchig amices. The Michigamea was a tribe of the Illinois 
confederacy, and were first visited by Marquette when he descended 
the Mississippi in 1673. At that time their village was on the west 



bdshnbll] NATIVE CEMETERIES AND FORMS OF BURIAL 



63 



side of the Mississippi, in the northeast corner of the present State 
of Arkansas. The source of the statement on the map is not known. 
If, however, this was the early home of the tribe, it would be reason- 
able to attribute to them certain of the burial mounds standing in 
the valley of the Sangamon, although they may have moved south- 
ward before the Illinois obtained firearms. In later years the Kick- 
apoo occupied a village on the Sangamon, but the exact location 
is not known. It was evidently protected by a palisade, for in men- 
tioning it a century ago it was said, " This fortification is distin- 
guished by the name of Etnataek. It is known to have served as an 
intrenchment to the Kickapoos and Foxes, who were met there and 
defeated by the Potawatomis, the Ottowas, and the Chippewas." 
(Keating, (1) , I, p. 171.) And according to the late Dr. William Jones, 
whose knowledge of the Algonquian language will probably never be 
equaled by another, the name Etnataek may have been derived from 
aHanataheg 1 , signifying " where the battle, fight, or clubbing took 
place." 

The burial mound on the Sangamon Bluff, in which the gun was 
discovered, may have been erected by the Kickapoo after the valley 
was abandoned by the Michigamea, and the Kickapoo may likewise 
have been the builders of other similar works occurring in the coun- 
try which they once occupied. 

A very remarkable example of rectangular stone inclosure was dis- 
covered in a mound on a bluff overlooking the Mississippi, in the 
town of Dunleith, Jo Daviess County, Illinois. This is the extreme 
northwest corner of the State, and the mound was one of a large 
group. Its height was about 10 feet, with a diameter of 65 feet. To 
quote the description of the interior : " The first six feet from the top 
consisted of hard gray earth. . . . This covered a vault built in part 
of stone and in part of round logs. When fully uncovered this was 
found to be a rectangular crypt, inside measurement showing it to 
be thirteen feet long and seven feet wide. The four straight, sur- 
rounding walls were built of small unhewn stones to the height of 
three feet and a foot or more in thickness. Three feet from each end 
was a cross wall or partition of like character, thus leaving a central 
chamber seven feet square, and a narrow cell at each end about two 
feet wide and seven feet long. This had been entirely covered with a 
single layer of round logs, varying in diameter from six to twelve 
inches, laid close together side by side across the width of the vault, 
the ends resting upon and extending to uneven lengths beyond the 
side walls." In the central space were 11 human skeletons, as indi- 
cated in the .drawings, figure 8 showing a section of the mound and 
figure 9 a ground plan of the inclosure. " They had all apparently 
been interred at one time as they were found arranged in a circle in a 



64 



BUKEAU OF AMERICAN ETHNOLOGY 



[bull. 71 



sitting posture, with backs against the walls. In the center of the 
space around which they were grouped was a fine large shell, Busy- 
con perversum, which had been converted into a drinking cup by 
removing the columella. Scattered around this were quite a number 
of pieces of broken pottery. The end cells, walled off as heretofore 
stated, were nearly filled with a fine chocolate-colored dust, which, 




Fig. 8. — Mound in Jo Daviess County, Illinois, section. 



when first uncovered, gave out such a sickening odor that it was 
found necessary to suspend operations until the next day in order to 
give it time to escape. . . . The covering consisted of oak logs, nearly 
all of which had been peeled and some of the larger ones somewhat 
squared by slabbing off the sides before being put in place." 
(Thomas, (1), pp. 115-117.) Similar inclosures were discovered in 




Fig. 9. — Mound in Jo Daviess County, Illinois, base. 



other mounds of the group. The true nature of the "fine chocolate- . 
colored dust " was not determined. 

While the preceding was one of the most perfectly formed stone 
inclosures ever found east of the Mississippi and represents a cer- 
tain high degree of skill of the people by whom it was constructed, 
another a short distance northward may be regarded as exemplify- 
ing the other extreme. This refers to a small mound, one of a 
group, on a bluff overlooking the Mississippi about 1 mile above 
Lynxville, Crawford County, Wisconsin. It was 17 feet in diameter 



bushnell] NATIVE CEMETERIES AND FORMS OF BURIAL 



65 



and 2-J feet in height. It covered a stone vault " which, though only 
about three and one-half feet wide and of the form shown in the 
figure, extended from the top of the mound down a foot or more 
below the natural surface of the ground. This contained a single 
skeleton in a half-upright position. The head was southwest, the 
feet northeast. Near the right hip was a discoidal stone. There 
were no traces of coals or ashes in this mound." (Thomas, (1), p. 
72.) The ground plan is indicated in figure 10. 

The hollowing out of a central space in the original surface, thus 
forming a resting place for the body or bodies, later to be entirely 
covered by a mass of earth, appears to have been a well-developed 
custom of the people who reared the many mounds in southern Wis- 
consin and the adjoining country, but seldom do such works com- 
bine this feature with the stone in- 
closure as discovered in the small 
mound mentioned above. 

The inclosures described are good 
examples of this peculiar form of 
tomb, but they are not confined to 
the country east of the Mississippi, 
and many have been discovered ex- 
tending across the State of Missouri, 
up the valley of the Missouri. 
(Fowke, (2).) It is one of the most 
distinctive forms of burial encoun- 
tered in eastern United States, and 10.— Mound in Crawford County, 

likewise one of the most interesting. 

The numerous small burial mounds of Wisconsin do not reveal 
much of interest. They often occur in irregular groups, in some in- 
stances being associated with the effigies. Entire skeletons are found 
in some, but in others the burials are represented by a confused 
mass of bones. The mounds are seldom more than 10 feet in height, 
often quite steep, and consequently of a relatively small diameter. 
Little can be added to the account prepared more than 60 years 
ago. (Lapham, (1).) 

BUEIALS IN CAVES 

The early settlers of eastern Tennessee, eastern Kentucky, and the 
adjoining region discovered many caves of varying sizes in the 
broken, mountainous country. In many instances human remains 
which had been deposited in the caverns, together with the garments 
and wrappings of tanned skins or woven fibers, were found in a 
130548°— 20 5 




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BUREAU OF AMERICAN ETHNOLOGY 



[bull. 71 



remarkable state of preservation, having been thus preserved by the 
natural salts which abounded within the caves. Fortunately several 
very clear and graphic accounts of such discoveries were prepared. 
One most interesting example, then recently made in a cave in Bar- 
ren County, Kentucky, was described in a letter written August 24, 
1815 : " In exploring a calcareous chamber in the neighborhood of 
Glasgow, for saltpetre, several human bodies were found enwrapped 
carefully in skins and cloths. They were inhumed below the floor 
of the cave; inhumed, not lodged in catacombs. . . . The outer 
envelope of the body is a deer skin, probably dried in the usual way, 
and perhaps softened before its application, by rubbing. The next 
covering is a deer skin, whose hair had been cut away by a sharp 
instrument. . . . The next wrapper is of cloth, made of twine doubled 
and twisted. But the thread does not appear to have been formed by 
the wheel, nor the web by the loom. . . . The innermost tegument is 
a mantle of cloth like the preceding ; but furnished with large brown 
feathers, arranged and fastened with great art, so as to be capable 
of guarding the living wearer from wet and cold. The plumage is 
distinct and entire, and the whole bears a near similitude to the 
feathery cloaks now worn by the nations of the n. w. coast of 
America. . . . The body is in a squatting posture. ... There is a 
deep and extensive fracture of the skull near the occiput. . . . The 
skin has sustained little injury. . . . The scalp, with small excep- 
tions, is covered with sorrel or foxy hair." (Mitchill, (1), pp. 318- 
321.) 

Four years earlier a similar discovery was made about 100 miles 
to the southward, near the center of the State of Tennessee. The 
entire account is quoted. 

" In the spring of the year 1811, was found in a copperas cave in 
Warren County, in West Tennessee, about 15 miles southwest from 
Sparta, and 20 from McMinnville, the bodies of two human beings, 
which had been covered by the dirt or ore from which copperas was 
made. One of these persons was a male, the other a female. They 
were interred in baskets, made of cane, curiously wrought, and evi- 
dencing great mechanic skill. They were both dislocated at the hip 
joint, and were placed erect in the baskets, with a covering made of 
cane to fit the baskets in which they were placed. The flesh of these 
persons was entire and undecayed, of a brown dryish colour, pro- 
duced by time, the flesh having adhered closely to the bones and 
sinews. Around the female, next her body, was placed a well dressed 
deer skin. Next to this was placed a rug, very curiously wrought, 
of the bark of a tree and feathers. The bark seemed to have been 
formed of small strands well twisted. Around each of these strands, 
feathers were rolled, and the whole woven into a cloth of firm texture, 



bdshnell] NATIVE CEMETERIES AND FORMS OF BURIAL 



67 



after the manner of our coarse fabrics. This rug was about three 
feet wide, and between six and seven in length. The whole of the 
ligaments thus framed of bark, were completely covered by the 
feathers, forming a body of about one eighth of an inch in thick- 
ness, the feathers extending about one quarter of an inch in length 
from the strand to which they were confined. The appearance was 
highly diversified by green, blue, yellow and black, presenting dif- 
ferent shades of colour when reflected upon by the light in different 
positions. The next covering was an undressed deer skin, around 
which was rolled, in good order, a plain shroud manufactured after 
the same order as the one ornamented with feathers. This article 
resembled very much in its texture the bags generally used for the 
purpose of holding co'ffee exported from the Havanna to the United 
States. The female had in her hand a fan formed of the tail feathers 
of a turkey. The points of these feathers were curiously bound by 
a buckskin string well dressed, and were thus closely bound for about 
one inch from the points. About three inches from the point they 
were again bound, by another deer skin string, in such a manner 
that the fan might be closed and expanded at pleasure. Between the 
feathers and this last binding by the string, were placed around each, 
feather, hairs which seem to have been taken from the tail of a deer. 
This hair was dyed of a deep scarlet red, and was one third at least 
longer than the hairs of the deer's tail in this climate generally are. 

" The male was interred sitting in a basket, after the same manner 
as the former, with this exception, that he had no feathered rug, 
neither had he a fan in his hand. The hair which still remained on 
their heads was entire. . . . The female was, when she deceased, of 
about the age of 14. The male was somewhat younger. The cave 
in which they were found, abounded in nitre, copperas, alum and 
salts. The whole of this covering, with the baskets, was perfectly 
sound, without any marks of decay." (Haywood, (1), pp. 163-165.) 

A somewhat similar burial was encountered in a rock shelter on 
the bank of Cliff Creek, Morgan County, Tennessee, in 1885. This 
was some miles northeast of the cave described in 1811. The burial 
was reached at a depth of 3^ feet in earth strongly charged with nitre. 
Rolled up in a large split-cane mat were very remarkable examples 
of aprons made of Indian hemp (Apocynum cannabinvmb) , skeins of 
vegetal fiber, a clog's skull, some bone implements, fragments of 
human bones, and some hair. All were inclosed in the mat, and 
together with it were preserved by the natural salts. The speci- 
mens are now in the United States National Museum, Washington. 
(Holmes, (1), p. 30.) 

While the preceding burials do not appear to have been placed in 
prepared graves, other instances have been recorded where the bodies 



68 



BUREAU OF AMERICAN ETHNOLOGY 



[bull. 71 



had been inclosed in a cavity protected by fiat stones, thus resembling 
the stone-lined graves of the region. Such were the conditions 
revealed in a cave some 4 miles distant from Mammoth Cave, in 
Warren County, Kentucky. Here the remains were " found at the 
depth of about ten feet from the surface of the cave, placed in a 
sitting posture, incased in broad stones, standing on their edges, with 
a flat stone covering the whole. It was enveloped in coarse clothes 
. . . the whole wrapped in deer skins, the hair of which was shaved 
off in the manner in which Indians prepare them for market. En- 
closed in the stone coffin, were the working utensils, beads, feathers, 
and other ornaments of dress, which belonged to her. . . . This place 
the cave had evident marks of having once been the residence of the 
aborigines of the country, from the quantity of ashes, and the remains 
of fuel, and torches made of reed, &c. which were found in it." Other 
remains had been discovered in this cave previously to the one just 
described. This was written October 2, 1817. (Wilkins, (1), pp. 
361-364.) 

Differing from all the cave burials now mentioned, in which the re- 
mains had been carefully prepared and wrapped, then deposited with 
various ornaments, was a discovery made about 1J miles northeast of 
Hardinsburgh, Breckinridge County, Kentucky. Here a great mass 
of bones was found. " The cavern is open toward the south, the over- 
hanging roof protecting the space below from exposure to the ele- 
ments from above, while immense masses of fallen rock make a wall 
from ten to twelve feet high, directly in front, between which and 
the rear wall of the cavern the deposit containing the human remains 
was found. This deposit consists almost entirely of wood ashes. . . . 
The deposit is about eight by fifteen feet superficial measure, and 
was about seven feet in depth. In it, without order, were found 
thirty or more human skeletons, nearly all with a flat stone laid upon 
their heads. There were infants and adults promiscuously buried at 
various depths in the ashes, and at the bottom, on a layer of broken 
stones, some charred human remains were found. . . . Mingled with 
these remains many flint and other stone implements and weapons 
were found, with a few fragments of rude pottery." (Eobertson, 
(l),p. 367.) 

Resembling the preceding was a cave in Marshall County, Alabama, 
about 1 mile west of Guntersville, a short distance from the bank of 
the Tennessee. " Its floor is covered to the depth of four feet with 
fragments of human bones, earth, ashes, and broken stones.- This 
fragmentary condition of the deposits is chiefly due to the fact that 
they have been repeatedly turned over by treasure hunters. Much 
of this deposit has been hauled away in sacks for fertilizing the 
land. The number of dead deposited here must have been very great, 



bushnell] NATIVE CEMETERIES AND FORMS OF BURIAL 



69 



for, notwithstanding so much has been removed, there is yet a depth 
of four feet, chiefly of broken human bones." (Thomas, (l),p.285.) 

Other instances are recorded where a small room or cavity within 
a large cave had evidently been set apart and converted into a tomb. 
Haywood mentioned a cave " near the confines of Smith and Wilson 
Counties, on the south side of Cumberland river, about 22 miles above 
Cairo, on the waters of Smith's Fork of Cany Fork." The outer 
portion of the cave was examined and small cavities were entered 
through natural passages. They reached " another small aperture, 
which also they entered, and went through, when they came into a 
narrow room, 25 feet square. Every thing here was neat and smooth. 
The room seemed to have been carefully preserved for the reception 
and keeping of the dead. In this room, near about the centre, were 
found sitting in baskets made of cane, three human bodies ; the flesh 
entire, but a little shrivelled, and not much so. The bodies were those 
of a man, a female and a small child. . . . The man was wrapped in 
14 dressed deer skins. The 14 deer skins were wrapped in what those 
present called blankets. They were made of bark. . . . The form of 
the baskets which enclosed them was pyramidal, being larger at the 
bottom, and declining to the top. The heads of the skeletons, from 
the neck, were above the summits of the blankets." (Haywood, (1), 
pp. 191-192.) This would have been near the center of the State of 
Tennessee. 

The same writer records another example quite like the preceding. 
(Op. cit, p. 195. ) This was in Giles County, Tennessee, which touches 
the Alabama line. The cave was on the east bank of a creek, 7J miles 
north of the village of Pulaski. The cave contained several cavities 
or rooms, " the first 15 feet wide, and 27 long; 4 feet deep, the upper 
part of solid and even rock. In the cave was a passage, which had 
been so artfully covered that it escaped detection till lately." When 
the stones closing the opening had been removed, and the cavity en- 
tered, human bones were found scattered over the floor, which had 
been formed of " flat stones of a bluish hue, being closely joined to- 
gether, and of different forms and sizes." 

Various other burials, similar to those already mentioned, could be 
described, but without adding materially to the details. Many such 
discoveries were undoubtedly made by the early settlers and pioneers, 
all traces of which have been lost and to which no references have been 
preserved. It is within reason to attribute these burials in caves to 
the same people who constructed the stone-lined graves, but in the lat- 
ter all objects and material of a perishable nature have long since 
disappeared, whereas garments and wrappings when deposited in 
caves in contact with certain natural salts have been preserved. 
Therefore, if the hypothesis is correct, and the builders of the stone- 



70 



BUREAU OF AMERICAN ETHNOLOGY 



[bull. 71 



lined graves were the same people who would often deposit their 
dead in the natural caverns, many of the bodies when placed in the 
graves would probably have been similarly wrapped in skins or 
pieces of woven fiber, some decorated with feathers, some plain. But 
now little is encountered in the graves in addition to crumbling, de- 
caying bones. 

The manner in which some of the cave burials had been prepared, 
with the outer wrappings formed of mats of cane or rushes, tends to 
recall Lawson's account of the burial customs of the Carolina tribes 
with whom he came in contact very early in the eighteenth century. 
And undoubtedly there was intercourse between the occupants of the 
villages along the eastern slopes, in the western portion of the present 
State of North Carolina, and the people who claimed and occupied 
the valleys across the mountains. All may have had various customs 
in common. 

IROQTJOIAN GROUPS 

Iroquoian tribes occupied the greater part of the present State of 
New York, forming the League of the Iroquois, which often held the 
balance of power between the French and British colonies. Towns 
were numerous and frequently consisted of a strongly protected 
group of bark-covered houses, including the extended communal 
dwellings, some of which were 80 feet or more in length. The five 
nations of the league were the Mohawk, Cayuga, Oneida, Onondaga, 
and Seneca. The Susquehanna, met by a party of Virginia colonists 
in 1608 near the mouth of the stream which bears the tribal name, 
the Cherokee of the southern mountain country, and the Tuscarora 
and neighboring tribes, were members of this linguistic family. The 
Tuscarora moved northward early in the eighteenth century and in 
1722 became the sixth nation of the league. 

THE FIVE NATIONS 

Writing of the Iroquois or Five Nations, during the early years of 
the eighteenth century, at a time when they dominated the greater 
part of the present State of New York, it was said : " Their funeral 
Rites seem to be formed upon a Notion of some Kind of Existence 
after Death. They make a large round Hole, in which the Body can 
be placed upright, or upon its Haunches, which after the Body is 
placed in it, is covered with Timber, to support the Earth which they 
lay over, and thereby keep the Body free from being pressed; they 
then raise the Earth in a round Hill over it. They always dress the 
Corps in all its Finery, and put Wampum and other Things into the 
Grave with it; and the Relations suffer not Grass or any Weed to 



BUSIINELL] 



NATIVE CEMETERIES AND FORMS OE BURIAL 



71 



grow on the Grave, and frequently visit it with Lamentations." 
(Colden, (l),p. 16.) 

The circular mound of earth over the grave was likewise men- 
tioned a century earlier, having been seen at the Oneida village 
which stood east of the present Munnsville, Madison County, New 
York. "Before we reached the castle we saw three graves, just like 
our graves in length and height; usually their graves are round. 
These graves were surrounded with palisades that they had split from 
trees, and they were closed up so nicely that it was a wonder to see. 
They were painted with red and white and black paint; but the 
chief's grave had an entrance, and at the top of that was a big wooden 
bird, and all around were painted dogs and deer and snakes, and 
other beasts." (Yan Curler, (1), p. 92.) 

Within recent years a cemetery has been discovered about 2 miles 
northeast of Munnsville, and just south of it has been located a site 
protected by a stockade. This may have been the position of the 
great Oneida town, but the nature of the burials is not known. 
Whether the two preceding accounts referred to graves of sufficient 
magnitude to be classed as mounds, or whether they alluded merely 
to a small mass of earth raised over an individual pit burial, is diffi- 
cult to determine; nevertheless burial mounds do occur throughout 
the country of the Iroquois, but they are neither numerous nor large. 

In Erie County, near the bank of Buffalo Creek, formerly stood a 
rather irregular embankment, semicircular in form, and touching 
the steep bank at both ends. The inclosed area was about 4 acres. 
This was one of the favorite sites of the Senecas, and within the in- 
closure was one of their largest cemeteries. Here is the grave of 
"the haughty and unbending Eed Jacket, who died exulting that 
the Great Spirit had made him an Indian! . . . Tradition fixes 
upon this spot as the scene of the final and most bloody conflict be- 
tween the Iroquois and the ' Gah-kwas ' or Eries. . . . The old 
mission-house and church stand in close proximity to this mark. 
. . . Eed Jacket's house stood above a third of a mile to the south- 
ward upon the same elevation; and the abandoned council-house is 
still standing, perhaps a mile distant, in the direction of Buffalo. A 
little distant beyond, in the same direction and near the public road, is 
a small mound, called Dah-do-sot, artificial hill, by the Indians, who, 
it is said, were accustomed to regard it with much veneration, sup- 
posing that it covered the victims slain in some bloody conflict in 
the olden times. ... It was originally between five and six feet 
in height by thirty-five or forty feet base, and composed of the ad- 
jacent loam." It was partially examined, and only a few bits of 
charcoal, some half -formed arrowheads, etc., were found. (Squier, 
(l),pp. 51-53.) 



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BUREAU OF AMERICAN ETHNOLOGY 



[BULL. 71 



Several other mounds may be mentioned, and these may be con- 
sidered as being typical of all existing in the country of the Five 
Nations. Schoolcraft referred to a mound which stood about 1 mile 
distant, up the Tonawanda, in Genesee County. Another was some 
2 miles south of the first. Both were discovered in the year 1810, 
and contained many human bones. Glass beads were recovered 
from the one which stood farther north. In the adjoining county 
of Monroe were two mounds, the larger being not more than 5 feet 
in height. They were on the "high, sandy grounds to the west- 
ward of Irondequoit Bay, where it connects with Lake Ontario." 
These are said to have been examined in 1817, at which time various 
objects of European origin were found, including a sword scabbard, 
bands of silver, belt buckles, and similar pieces. 

The mounds already mentioned were within the territory of the 
Seneca, and those described in Genesee and Monroe Counties were 
erected within historic times. 

The Oneida occupied the country northeast of Lake Ontario, and 
a site "near the east end of Long Sault Island," in St. Lawrence 
County, may have been occupied by one of their villages. A mound 
south of this site was examined, and in it were discovered seven 
skeletons, and associated with the burials were various objects of 
native origin, including " a large pitcher-like vessel, four gouges, and 
some very coarse cloth, which looked like our hair cloth, only very 
coarse. Also seven strings of beads." (Beauchamp, (2).) A mound 
on St. Regis Island, in Franklin County, which touches St. Lawrence 
on the west, was opened in 1818. It contained deposits of human 
remains, those nearer the upper surface being the best preserved. 
This would have been in the Mohawk country. 

Mound burials are likewise to be encountered in the southern coun- 
ties, one very interesting example having been discovered in Che- 
nango, the region later occupied by the Tuscarora. This was in Green 
Township, near the mouth of Geneganstlet Creek. It was origi- 
nally about 6 feet in height and 40 feet in diameter. " It was opened 
in 1829 and abundant human bones were found, and much deeper be- 
neath them were others which had been burned. It was not an 
orderly burial, and the bones crumbled on being exposed. In one 
part were about 200 yellow and black jasper arrowheads, and 60 
more in another place. Also a silver band or ring about 2 inches 
in diameter, wide but thin, and with what appeared to be the re- 
mains of a reed pipe within it. A number of stone gouges or chisels 
of different shapes, and a piece of mica cut in the form of a heart, 
the border much decayed and the laminae separated, were also dis- 
covered." (Wilkinson, (1),) 



bdshnell] NATIVE CEMETERIES AND FORMS OF BURIAL 



73 



The finding of a piece of mica in this burial at once suggests the 
mound may have been the work of the Tuscarora. The mica " cut 
in the form of a heart " was probably carried by them from Carolina 
when they went northward in the early years of the eighteenth cen- 
tury, and became the sixth nation of the league. A short distance 
beyond, in the adjoining county of Otsego, is an island in the Sus- 
quehanna near the mouth of Charlotte Elver, and a mound stands on 
the island which is known locally as the grave of the chief Kaga- 
tinga, probably a village chief not known in history. In the extreme 
northern part of the same county, near Richfield Springs, was a 
mound often visited by the Oneida, and said by them to have been 
the burial place of one of their chief men. This will tend to recall 
the visits made bv parties of Indians to the burial mounds in pied- 
mont Virginia, a region once claimed and occupied by Siouan tribes. 

From the few references just given it is quite evident the Iroquois 
followed a form of mound burial even after the coming of the 
French, and it is also clearly established that such burials were more 
frequent in the western than in the eastern part of their country. 
Mounds similar to those mentioned have been encountered in every 
county west of a line running north and south through Oneida Lake 7 
but are far less numerous to the eastward. 

OSSUARIES 

Many ossuaries have been encountered in the western counties of 
the State of New York, which, however, may be attributed to the 
influence of the Huron. These great pits often contain vast quanti- 
ties of skeletal remains, together with numbers of objects of native 
origin which had been deposited as offerings to the dead, and mate- 
rial obtained from the early traders is sometimes found associated 
with the later burials. The ossuaries appear to have been rectangular 
in form, to have occupied rather prominent positions, and to have 
been carefully prepared. Such a communal burial place was dis- 
covered in May, 1909, about 1 mile southwest of Gasport, Niagara 
County, but unfortunately no detailed record of its contents was 
preserved. A part of the excavation is shown in plate 10, b. 

HURON CEREMONY, 163 6 

In contemplating the origin of the preceding burial it is of 
interest to read the description of a similar burial, as witnessed 
and recorded by the Jesuit Pere Le J eune, in the year 1636. But the 
father had much to say about the manners and customs of the people 
among whom he labored — the Huron — whose villages were in the 
vicinity of Lake Simcoe, He told of the manner in which the family 



74 



BUREAU OF AMERICAN ETHNOLOGY 



[bull. 71 



and friends gathered about the sick person while making various 
necessary plans and preparations in anticipation of the end, and 
continued : "As soon as the sick man has drawn his last breath, they 
place him in the position in which he is to be in the grave ; they do 
not stretch him at length as we do, but place him in a crouching 
posture, almost the same that a child has in its mother's womb. Thus 
far, they restrain their tears. After having performed these 
duties the whole Cabin begins to respond with cries, groans, and 
wails. ... As soon as they cease, the Captain goes promptly through 
the Cabins, making known that such and such a one is dead. On 
the arrival of friends, they begin anew to weep and complain. . . . 
Word of the death is also sent to the friends who live in the other 
Villages; and, as each family has some one who takes care of its 
dead, these latter come as soon as possible to take charge of every- 
thing, and determine the day of the funeral. Usually they inter the 
Dead on the third day ; as soon as it is light, the Captain gives orders 
that throughout the whole Village a feast be made for the dead." 
This being accomplished, "the Captain publishes throughout the 
Village that the body is about to be borne to the Cemetery. The 
whole Village assembles in the Cabin ; and weeping is renewed ; and 
those who have charge of the ceremonies get ready a litter on which 
the corpse is placed on a mat and enveloped in a Beaver robe, and 
then four lift and carry it away ; the whole Village follows in silence 
to the Cemetery. A Tomb is there, made of bark and supported on 
four stakes, eight to ten feet high. However, before the corpse is put 
into it, and before they arrange the bark, the Captain makes known 
the presents that have been given by the friends. In this Country, as 
well as elsewhere, the most agreeable consolations for the loss of 
friends are always accompanied by presents, such as kettles, axes, 
Beaver robes, and Porcelain collars. ..." All these gifts were 
not deposited with the dead. Some were distributed among the rela- 
tions of the deceased and others were given to those persons who 
assisted with the ceremonies. Others were offered as prizes in games 
played by the younger men. 

"The graves are not permanent; as their Villages are stationary 
only during a few years, while the supplies pf the forest last, the 
bodies only remain in the Cemeteries until the feast of the Dead, 
which usually takes place every twelve years." During the years 
between the death and the time of the final disposition of the re- 
mains the departed were often honored in many ways by the mem- 
bers of the family or by the entire village. And then came the 
great ceremony : " The feast of the Dead is the most renowned cere- 
mony among the Huron; they give it the name of feast be- 
cause , , , when the bodies are taken from their Cemeteries, each 



bushnell] NATIVE CEMETERIES AND FORMS OF BURIAL 



75 



Captain makes a feast for the souls in his Village," and the feast 
was conducted with much form, " now usually there is only a single 
feast in each Nation; all the bodies are put into a common pit. I 
say, usually, for this year, which has happened to be the feast of 
the Dead, the kettle has been divided; and five Villages of the part 
where we are have acted by themselves, and have put their dead into 
a private pit. . . . Twelve years or thereabouts having elapsed, the Old 
Men and Notables of the Country assemble, to deliberate in a definite 
way on the time at which the feast shall be held to the satisfaction 
of the whole Country and of the foreign Nations that may be invited 
to it. The decision having been made, as all the bodies are to be 
transported to the Village where is the common grave, each family 
sees to its dead, but with a care and affection that cannot be described : 
if they have dead relatives in any part of the Country, they spare 
no trouble to go for them; they take them from the Cemeteries, 
bear them on their shoulders, and cover them with the finest robes 
they have. In each Village they choose a fair day, and proceed to 
the Cemetery, where those called Aiheoncle, who take care of the 
graves, draw the bodies from the tombs in the presence of the rela- 
tives, who renew their tears and feel afresh the grief they had the 
day of the funeral . . . after having opened the graves, they dis- 
play before you all these Corpses, on the spot, and they leave them 
thus exposed long enough for the spectators to learn at their leisure, 
and once for all, what they will be some day. The flesh of some is 
quite gone, and there is only parchment on their bones; in other 
cases, the bodies look as if they had been dried and smoked, and 
show scarcely any signs of putrefaction; and in still other cases 
they are still swarming with worms. When the friends have gazed 
upon the bodies to their satisfaction, they cover them with handsome 
Beaver robes quite new : finally, after some time they strip them 
of their flesh, taking off skin and flesh which they throw into the 
fire along with the robes and mats in which the bodies were wrapped. 
As regards the bodies of those recently dead, they leave these in 
the state in which they are, and content themselves by simply cov- 
ering them with new robes. . . . The bones having been well 
cleaned, they put them partly into bags, partly into fur robes, loaded 
them on their shoulders, and covered these packages with another 
beautiful hanging robe. As for the whole bodies, they put them on 
a species of litter, and carried them with all the others, each into 
his Cabin, where each family made a feast to its dead." The bones 
of the dead were called by the Huron Atisken. " the souls." 

For several days between the removal of the bodies from the tombs 
and the starting for the scene of the last rites, these many bundles of 



76 



BUREAU OF AMERICAN ETHNOLOGY 



[bull. 71 



bones were either hung from the walls of the dwellings or lay upon 
the floor, and in one " Cabin there were fully a hundred souls hung 
to and fixed upon the poles, some of which smelled a littie stronger 
than musk." At last the time arrived when all were gathered about 
the great excavation in which the remains were to be deposited: 
" Let me describe the arrangement of this place. It was about the 
size of the place Royale at Paris. There was in the middle of it a 
great pit, about ten feet deep and five brasses wide. All around it 
was a scaffold, a sort of staging very well made, nine to ten brasses 
in width, and from nine to ten feet high; above this staging there 
were a number of poles laid across, and well arranged, with cross- 
poles to which these packages of souls were hung and bound. The 
whole bodies, as they were to be put in the bottom of the pit, had 
been the preceding day placed under the scaffold, stretched upon 
bark or mats fastened to stakes about the height of a man, on the 
borders of the pit. The whole Company arrived with their corpses 
about an hour after Midday, and divided themselves into different 
cantons, according to their families and Villages, and laid on the 
ground their parcels of souls, almost as they do earthen pots at the 
Village Fairs. They unfolded also their parcels of robes, and all the 
presents they had brought, and hung them upon poles, which were 
from 5 to 600 toises in extent ; so there were as many as twelve hun- 
dred presents which remained thus on exhibition two full hours, to 
give Strangers time to see the wealth and magnificence of the Coun- 
try." Later in the day the pit was lined with new beaver robes, each 
of which was made of ten skins. The bottom and sides were thus 
covered, and the robes lay a foot or more over the edge. Forty-eight 
robes were required to form the lining, and others of a like nature 
were wrapped about the remains. The entire bodies were first placed 
in the bottom of the pit, and the bundles of bones were deposited* 
above. " On all sides you could have seen them letting down half- 
decayed bodies ; and on all sides was heard a horrible din of confused 
voices of persons, who spoke and did not listen; ten or twelve were 
in the pit and were arranging the bodies all around it, one after an- 
other. They put in the very middle of the pit three large kettles, 
which could only be of use for souls ; one had a hole through it, an- 
other had no handle, and the third was of scarcely more value." The 
entire bodies were placed in the pit the first day, and the bundles of 
loose bones were deposited on the morning of the second, after which 
the beaver robes were folded over the remains which reached nearty 
to the mouth of the pit. And then all was covered " with sand, poles, 
and wooden stakes, which they threw in without order," after which 
" some women brought to it some dishes of corn; and that day, and 
the following days, several Cabins of the Village provided nets quite 



bushnell] NATIVE CEMETERIES AND FORMS OF BURIAL. 



77 



full of it, which were thrown upon the pit." (Le Jeune, (1), pp. 
265-317.) 

Much detail not quoted at this time is to be found in this vivid 
narrative, and niany of the beliefs and superstitions of the people 
are recorded. He told of the treatment of the body of a person acci- 
dentally drowned : " Last year, at the beginning of November [1635] , 
a Savage was drowned when returning from fishing ; he was interred 
on the seventeenth, without any ceremonies. On the same day snow 
fell in such abundance that it hid the earth all the winter; and our 
Savages did not fail to cast the blame on their not having cut up the 
dead person as usual. Such are the sacrifices they make to render 
Heaven favorable." (P. 165.) 

And regarding the Huron belief in the future state the same 
father wrote (p. 143) : "As to what is the state of the soul after 
death, they hold that it separates in such a way from the body that 
it does not abandon it immediately. When they bear it to the grave, 
it walks in front, and remains in the cemetery until the feast of the 
Dead; by night, it walks through the village and enters the Cabins, 
where it takes its part in the feasts, and eats what is left at evening 
in the kettle ; whence it happens that many, on this account, do not 
willingly eat from it on the morrow; there are even some of them 
who will not go to the feasts made for the souls, believing that they 
would certainly die if they should even taste of the provisions pre- 
pared for them ; others, however, are not so scrupulous, and eat their 
fill. At the feast of the Dead, which takes place about every twelve 
years, the souls quit the cemeteries, and in the opinion of some are 
changed into Turtledoves, which they pursue later in the woods, with 
bow and arrow, to broil and eat ; nevertheless the most common belief 
is that after this ceremony . . . they go away in company, covered 
as they are with robes and collars which have been put into the grave 
for them, to a great Village, which is toward the setting Sun, except, 
however, the old people and the little children who have not as strong 
limbs as the others to make this voyage ; these remain in the country, 
where they have their own particular Villages." 

Several very interesting details are revealed in the account of 
this great burial which occurred nearly three centuries ago. The 
first is the reference to the entire bodies being placed in the bottom 
of the pit. This obviously alludes to entire skeletons as distinguished 
from the bundles of detached or dissociated bones. If this was a 
recognized custom of the makers of the ossuaries it would be ex- 
pected, when examining a great burial of this sort, to find the posi- 
tions and general arrangement of the remains differing in various 
parts of the ancient pit ; to find several strata, with a greater variety 
of bones in one than in the other, The second point of interest men- 



78 



BUREAU OF AMERICAN ETHNOLOGY 



[bull. 71] 



tioned in this early narrative is that in which reference is made to 
the richness of the material deposited in the pit with the remains, but 
the greater part was of a perishable nature and should this pit be 
encountered at the present day its contents would probably resemble 
those of the ossuary discovered near Gasport in 1909. 

Other great burial places, similar to that discovered near Gasport, 
have been encountered in the same county, 10 miles or more south 
of Lake Ontario, on the Tuscarora Reservation. On the northern 
border of the reservation stood an ancient inclosure, and " a little 
over half a mile west of the inclosure," and about 20 rods distant 
from the edge of the bluff upon which it stood, " was a large bone 
pit. It was marked by a low conical elevation, not over a foot and a 
half high and 27 feet in diameter. Directly in the center was a 
slight depression in which lay a large flat stone with a number of 
similar stones under and around it. At the depth of 18 inches the 
bones seemed to have been disturbed. Among them was a Canadian 
penny. This, Mount Pleasant (the Tuscarora chief) thought, may 
have been dropped in there by a missionary who, thirty years 
before, had found on the reservation a skull with an arrowhead 
sticking in it; or by some Indian, for it is, or was, an Indian 
custom to do this where bones have been disturbed, by way of 
paying for the disturbance or for some article taken from the 
grave. The bones seemed to have belonged to both sexes and were 
thrown in without order; they were, however, in a good state of 
preservation. Three copper rings were found near finger bones. 
The roots of trees that had stood above the pit made digging quite 
difficult ; yet sixty skulls were brought to the surface, and it is quite 
likely that the pit contained as many as a hundred skeletons. The 
longest diameter of the pit was 9 feet; its depth 5 feet. There were 
no indications on the skulls of death from bullet wounds. Two 
similar elevations, one 18 or 20 feet, the other 10 rods, directly east 
of this pit, were opened sufficiently to show that they were burial 
places of a similar character. Like the first, these contained flat 
stones, lying irregularly near the top. Charcoal occurred in small 
pieces in all. Indian implements and ornaments, and several Revo- 
lutionary relics, were found in the adjoining field." (Thomas, (1), 
pp. 512-513.) 

Another ossuary, evidently quite similar to the one described by 
Pere Le Jeune, was discovered in 1824, some 6 miles west of Lock- 
port, in Niagara County. " The top of the pit was covered with 
small slabs of Medina sandstone, and was 24 feet square by 4| in 
depth, the planes agreeing with the four cardinal points. It was 
filled with human bones of both sexes and all ages. ... In one 
skull, two flint arrow heads were found, and many had the ap- 



bushnell] NATIVE CEMETERIES AND FORMS OF BURIAL 



79 



pearance of having been fractured and cleft open, by a sudden blow. 
They were piled in regular layers, but with no regard to size or 
sex. Pieces of pottery were picked up in the pit, and had also 
been ploughed up in the field adjacent." The finding of "some 
metal tools with a French stamp " prove the later burials to have 
been of comparatively recent origin. (Schoolcraft, (1), pp. 217- 
218.) 

In the adjoining county of Erie, "upon a sandy, slightly elevated 
peninsula, which projects into a low tangled swamp," about 1^ 
miles southwest of Clarence Hollow, stood a small, irregular in- 
closure. Human remains were discovered when plowing the neigh- 
boring heights. About 1 mile to the eastward of the inclosure, oc- 
cupjdng a dry, sandy spot, was an extensive ossuary, estimated 
to have contained 400 skeletons, "heaped promiscuously together. 
They were of individuals of every age and sex. In the same field 
are found a great variety of Indian relics, also brass cap and belt 
plates, and other remains of European origin." Near this point was 
discovered, " a year or two since, a skeleton surrounded by a quan- 
tity of rude ornaments. It had been placed in a cleft of the rock, 
the mouth of which was covered by a large flint stone." (Squier, 
(l), p. 56.) 

Many other references to great communal burials, similar to 
those already described, could be quoted. All, however, seem to 
have been quite alike in appearance, the principal difference at 
the present time being in their size. When constructed some were 
undoubtedly more richly lined with robes of beaver skins and other 
furs than others, and the number and variety of objects deposited 
with the dead naturally varied. But as the greater proportion of 
the material placed in the pits with the remains was of a perishable 
nature all this has now disappeared, leaving only the fragmentary 
decomposed bones, which in turn will soon vanish, and little will 
remain to indicate the great communal burial places. 

A note in Graham's Magazine, January, 1853, page 102, may refer 
to the discovery of an ossuary, similar to those already described, 
but if so it was not recognized as such. The note stated that " Work- 
men on the line of the New York, Corning, and Buffalo Rail Road, 
on the east side of the Genesee River, and about fifteen rods from 
the water's edge, while cutting through a sand-bank, have exhumed 
many human skeletons, piled one above another, with every sign 
of a hasty military burial. . . . These discoveries strengthen a be- 
lief long entertained, that in 1687 the Marquis de Nouvelle fought 
his famous battle with the Senecas at or near the burial place men- 
tioned, that on the banks of the Genesee, within the limits of Avon, 
Frank and Red Man closed in mortal death-struggle." This would 



80 



BUREAU OF AMERICAN ETHNOLOGY 



[BULL. 71 



have been across the river, and not far distant from Canawaugus, 
and may have been a burial place belonging to that village. 

LATER HURON BURIAL, 1675 

Having such a clear and vivid description of the early burial cus- 
toms of the Huron, and the various ceremonies which were enacted 
by members of that tribe at the time of the death of one of their 
number, as recorded by Pere Le Jeune, in 1636, it is of interest to 
compare them with the later customs of the same people, after they 
had become influenced by the teachings of the missionaries. The later 
account relates to the people of la Mission de Notre-Dame de Lorette, 
in the year 1675, at which time " about 300 souls, both Huron and 
Iroquois," were gathered about the Mission and heard the teachings 
of the Jesuits. And regarding the burial of their dead it was said : 
"Their custom is as follows: as soom as any one dies, the captain 
utters a lugubrious cry through the village to give notice of it. The 
relatives of the deceased have no need to trouble themselves about 
anything, beyond weeping for their dead; because every family 
takes care that the body is shrouded, the grave dug, and the corpse 
borne to it and buried, and that everything else connected with the 
burial is done, — a service that they reciprocally render to one another 
on similar occasions. 

"When the hour for the funeral has come, the clergy usually go « 
to the cabin to get the body of the deceased, which is dressed in his 
finest garments, and generally covered over with a fine red blanket, 
quite new. After that, nothing is done beyond what is customary 
for the French, until the grave is reached. Upon arriving there, the 
family of the deceased, who hitherto have only had to weep, display 
all their wealth, from which they give various presents. This is 
done through captain, who, after pronouncing a sort of funeral 
oration, which is usually rather short, offers the first present to the 
church, — generally a fine large porcelain collar, — in order that 
prayers may be said for the repose of the dead person's soul. Then 
he gives, out of all the dead man's effects, three or four presents to 
those who bury him ; then some to the most intimate friends of the 
deceased. The last of all these presents is that given to the relatives 
of the deceased, by those who bury him. Finally, the whole ceremony 
concludes by placing the body in the ground in the following man- 
ner. A wide grave is dug, 4 to 5 feet deep, capable of holding more 
than six bodies, but all lined with bark on the bottom and four sides. 
This forms a sort of cellar, in which they lay the body, and over 
which they place a large piece of bark in the shape of a tomb ; it is 
supported by sticks placed crosswise over the excavation, that this 
bark may not sink into the tomb, and that it may hold up the earth 
that is to be thrown on it ; the body thus lies therein as in a cham- 



bushnell] NATIVE CEMETERIES AND FORMS OF BURIAL 



81 



> 



5 



ber without touching the earth at all. Finally, some days 
after the burial, when the tears of the relatives have been 
dried to some extent, they give a feast to give the deceased 
back to life, that is, to give his name to another, Avhom 
they urged to imitate the dead man's good actions while 
taking his name." (Dablon, (1) , pp. 35-37.) 

A large grave as described in the preceding account 
would, in after years, when the supporting bark had be- 
come decayed and fallen, have been sunken and irregular. 
The remains would have become scattered within the ex- 
cavated space, and all the lining would have disappeared. 
This may, and undoubtedly does, explain the origin of 
many burials in the eastern part of the country, espe- 
cially in New England. 

When telling of the presents exchanged and given at 
the time of burial, Pere Dablon mentioned particularly 
that the first was- made to the church, and this was " gen- 
erally, a fine large porcelain collar," porcelain here re- 
fering to wampum. Such a specimen is now in the small 
museum connected with the Collegio di Propaganda Fide, 
at Eome, where it was deposited many years ago by some 
missionary when he returned from America. Unfortu- 
nately the history of the remarkable piece is not known, 
but is one of the most interesting examples of wampum 
preserved in any collection. This is shown in plate 1^ the 
reproductions being made from photographs of the origi- 
nal, made by the writer in 1905. It measures nearly 6 feet 
6 inches in length and about 4£ inches in width, made up 
of 15 rows of beads, each row consisting of 616 beads, or 
9,690 in all. The design suggests the attempt to represent 
on one side Christianity, on the other paganism. At the 
end of the first side is evidently shown the chapel of the 
mission, with one window and a cross above the doorway. 
Next are several characters which may identify the mis- 
sion; and beyond these are two keys, crossed. In the 
middle are two figures, evidently a missionary on the right 
and an Indian on the left, holding between them a cross, 
the Christian symbol. This most unusual and interesting 
piece of native workmanship, although showing so clearly 
the influence of the teachings of the missionaries, should 
undoubtedly be considered as having served as a " present 
to the church " at the time of burial of some native con- 
vert, possibly two centuries or more ago. Arranged and fastened as it 
is suggests its use as a collar or stole, something more elaborate than 
an ordinary wampum " belt." The entire design is shown in figure 11. 
130548°— 20 6 



82 



BUREAU OF AMERICAN ETHNOLOGY 



[bull. 71 



Having described this remarkable piece of wampum, the most in- 
teresting example of such work known to exist, it may be well to 
refer briefly to wampum in general. 

The term wampum, derived from an Algonquian word, has often 
been applied to all shell beads, but the true wampum beads are of a 
cylindrical form, averaging about one-eighth inch in diameter and 
one-fourth inch in length. They are of two sorts, white and violet, 
the latter by many writers being termed black. The violet beads 
were made of a part of the Venus mercenaria, while various shells 
were used in making the white variety. It is quite probable that 
such beads were made and used by the native tribes along the Atlantic 
coast before the coming of Europeans, although it is equally probable 
that after acquiring metal tools, or bits of metal capable of being 
fashioned into drills, they were made in greater quantities and of a 
more regular form. 

In the year 1656 there appeared in London a small printed cata- 
logue of the collections belonging to John Tradescant. This was the 
first publication of such a nature in the English language. The title 
of this little volume is " Museum Tradescantianum : or a Collection 
of Rarities preserved at South Lambeth near London, by John 
Tradescant. London, M.DC.LVI." On page 51 of the catalogue is 
mention of a "Black Indian girdle made of wampum peek best sort." 
This is probably the earliest reference to a piece of wampum in a 
European collection, and it proves that various qualities were recog- 
nized. This was made clear by an entry in the Catalogue and De- 
scription of the Natural and Artificial Rarities, belonging to the 
Royal Society, and preserved at Gresham College, London, 1681. 
A most valuable reference to and description of wampum appears on 
page 370, and is quoted in full: 

" Several sorts of Indian Money, called wampam peage, ' Tis made 
of a shell, formed into small Cylinders, about a J of an inch long, 
and J over, or somewhat more or less : and so being bored as Beads 
and put upon Strings, pass among the Indians, in their usual Com- 
merse, as Silver and Gold amongst us. But being loose is not so 
current. 

" The meanest is in Single Strings. Of which here is both the 
White and Black. By measure, the former goes at Five shillings the 
Fathome ; the latter, at Ten. By Number the former at Six a penny ; 
the latter, at Three. 

" The next in value is that which is Woven together into Bracelets 
about J of a yard long: Black and White, in Stripes, and six pieces 
in a Row; the warp consisting of Leathern Thongs, the Woofe of 
Thread. The Bracelets the Zauksquaes or Gentlewomen commonly 
wear twice or thrice about their Wrists. 



bushnell] NATIVE CEMETERIES AND FORMS OF BURIAL 



' 83 



" The best is woven into Girdles. Of this there are two sorts. One 
about a yard long; with fourteen pieces in a Row, woven, for the 
most part, into black and white Squares, continued obliquely from 
edge to edge. The other, not all-out so long, but with fifteen pieces 
in a Row woven into black Rhombs or Diamond-Squares and Crosses 
within them. The spaces between filled up with white. These two 
last, are sometimes worn as their richest Ornaments ; but chiefly used 
in great Payments, esteemed their Noblest Presents, and laid up as 
their Treasure." 

Such were the varied uses of the true wampum, and the great 
collar in the Collegio di Propaganda Fide, at Rome, would have 
belonged to the last group, one of " their Noblest Presents," in this 
instance undoubtedly serving as a " present to the church," a's related 
by Pere Dablon. 

SENECA CEREMONY, 1731 

Throughout the greater part of the region once occupied by the 
Five Nations are" discovered their ancient cemeteries, often situated 
near the sites of their former villages. Some have been examined, 
and these usually reveal the human remains, now rapidly disappear- 
ing, lying in an extended position. Few accounts of the ceremonies 
which attended the death and burial of these people have been pre- 
served, but one of the most interesting relates to the Seneca, as en- 
acted during the month of June, 1731. True, the two persons who 
were buried at this Seneca village were not members of the tribe, but, 
nevertheless, the rites were those of the latter. The relation is pre- 
served in the journal of a Frenchman who visited the Seneca at that 
time, accompanied by a small party of Algonquian Indians. During 
the visit one of the Algonquian women was killed by her husband 
and he in turn was executed by the Seneca. The double funeral 
which followed was described by the French traveler, who recorded 
many interesting details. He first referred to a structure where the 
bodies were kept for several days after death and there prepared for 
burial, and when he arrived at this cabin it was already crowded with 
men and women, " all seated or rather squatting on their knees, with 
the exception of four women, who, with disheveled locks, were lying 
face downward, at the feet of the dead woman." These were the chief 
mourners. The body of the woman was placed on an elevated stage. 
It was dressed in blue and white garments and a wampum belt was 
the only ornament. The face was painted, with vermilion on the lips. 
In her right hand was placed a garden implement, " to denote that 
during her life she had been a good worker," and in the left hand 
rested " the end of a rope, the other end of which, floating in a large 
bark dish, indicated the sad fate which brought her life to an end." 



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BUREAU OF AMERICAN ETHNOLOGY 



[bull. 71 



This refers to her having been drowned. The body of her husband, 
who had been executed by the Seneca, was on the opposite side of the 
cabin, " but in a most humiliating posture, for he had been stretched 
at length on his blanket, face downward, with his hands joined over 
his head, as if to bear witness to the despair or the repentance which 
he would have felt for his crinie, had he been alive." His body and 
face were painted with white and black, and he was partly covered 
with rags. Suspended from a pole placed for the purpose between 
his legs were a his gun, his hatchet, his knife, his pouch of tobacco, 
and all his belongings." The interior of the cabin was crowded, and 
as many more were grouped about outside, and now the " Mistress of 
Ceremonies . . . began to chant her doleful lamentations." She re- 
lated how the two had met their deaths, and " scarcely had she made 
the first movement, weeping alone, when the four other women whom 
I have mentioned, arose and responded regularly to her cadence — 
that is to say, they made their lamentations in turn and with the 
same intonation as the leader, whose every gesture they imitated. 
... These women tore their hair, joined their hands toward heaven, 
and poured forth in a plaintive tone a torrent of words suitable to 
the person whose part they represented, according to the different 
degrees of relationship or connection, which this same person bore 
to the deceased man or woman." This chanting continued for nearly 
half an hour, when " an Algonquian, who was no relation of the 
dead woman, imposed silence, rising, and instantly no more lamenta- 
tions were heard. This Indian first made the Funeral Oration of 
this unfortunate woman, whose good qualities he set forth in par- 
ticular, as I was. told, to make it understood that she must be happy 
in the land of departed souls, and that her relatives should be con- 
soled for her loss." The Algonquian speaker was immediately fol- 
lowed by an old man of the Iroquois, who " made a defense for the 
dead man, that is to say he undertook to account for his action in 
representing to the assembly that this unfortunate husband had 
doubtless been possessed with the evil Spirit on the day that he had 
drowned his wife, and that consequently this Indian not having 
been master of himself at the time of this evil deed, he rather merited 
pity than the condemnation of the present assembly." He referred 
to the dead man as a great warrior and hunter, and deplored the act 
which made it necessary for the T sonnontouanne to slay him. He 
then called attention to the position of the body. " Finally, in order 
the more to excite the compassion of the spectators, this Iroquois 
threw himself at the feet of the dead woman whose pardon he be- 
sought, in the name of her husband, and he protested that had it 
been in his power to restore her to life, she would certainly not be 
in her sad plight. Then to crown his discourse he addressed the 
father-in-law of the executed man and asked if he was not satisfied 



bdshnell] NATIVE CEMETERIES AXD FORMS OF BURIAL 



85 



with the repentance of his late son-in-law. At these last words, this 
good man replied £ Etho,' which means yes." The body of the man 
was then carried, to the river, near the village, where it was thor- 
oughly washed, all traces of paint being removed, then " four young 
men carried it back with great ceremony into the same cabin from 
which they had taken it. As soon as it was replaced it was repainted, 
but in beautiful and divers colors, after which it was neatly clothed, 
a gun was placed in his hand, a pipe in his mouth, and he was seated 
beside his wife." Thus the bodies remained during the night and 
until the following morning, and this interval " was spent in condo- 
lences among a number of Indians who came by turn to speak to the 
two corpses." 

The burial occurred on the following day, June 17, 1731. That 
morning all were quiet in the village; they were seated or lying 
about, with heads on their knees and often wrapped in blankets, and 
each cabin was to hold a feast for the dead. The Frenchman again 
entered the cabin and there saw the bodies " each in a coffin made of 
a piece of white bark, without covering, so that the face and body 
were visible." Both were dressed as on the previous day. " Their 
knees were raised so as to support a cross four feet high, which had 
been placed with each body in such a way that, the coffin of the 
woman being opposite to that of her husband, the two crosses formed 
a sort of arch, under which all the Indians passed back and forth, 
prostrating themselves to the ground, and in turn offering prayers 
to the Great Spirit for the repose of the souls of these two dead peo- 
ple. About eleven o'clock the doleful lamentations began again and 
were heard on all sides. The chief mourners seemed only to serve 
as leaders to show the other women how they should groan or weep. 
The men said no word and one heard only the groanings and lamen- 
tations of the women. However, this pitiful music did not last long 
as the chief made a sign for them to stop, to make way for the 
Orators of the occasion to speak. At the end of their speech, which 
was sad and very short, one of the old people made presents of 
marten and beaver skins to the Algonquians, relations of the de- 
ceased, he also gave some marten skins to my Abenaquis, to the 
mourners, and to several other Indians among the company. At last 
they took the crosses off the bodies, after which four young Indians 
painted black, raising the husband's body, and four others painted 
white and red, taking the wife's body, carried them on their shoul- 
ders to the village cemetery, about 40 or 50 fathoms [toises] distant. 
The two young men who served as Cross bearers preceded the funeral 
procession. Immediately after them came the Mistress of Cere- 
monies for the mourners, she was followed by her four female mourn- 
ers around the two bodies, and lastly the men carrying their guns 
brought up the rear of the funeral procession. As soon as the two 



86 



BUREAU OF AMERICAN ETHNOLOGY 



f BULL. 71 



bodies had reached the cemetery they were placed at the side of the 
graves which had been prepared for them, and all their clothing and 
ornaments were taken off." 

The old engraving showing the procession after it had entered the 
cemetery is here reproduced as plate 11, h. The open graves are 
shown, all surrounded by a palisade, and beyond are the cabins. 
" Whilst this last office was being performed the men formed a large 
circle around them, said prayers in a loud voice, and sung three 
hymns as follows, one after the style of our Dies irae, dies ilia, the 
other like our Libera me Domine and another like our De Profondis; 
these hymns were really the same as ours, which the Jesuits had 
doubtless translated for them. After the Indians had finished these 
three Canticles each one placed their hands on those of the two 
bodies, as if to say good bye. Then they cut a lock of hair from the 
tops of their heads which were given to the nearest relative, and they 
were lowered into the graves. It was then that the women vied 
with each other in making grimaces and shedding tears, and groan- 
ing in a horrible manner. It was now that they said indeed : Adieu 
my good friend, the great warrior, the splendid hunter. Adieu then 
Jeanne, the fine singer, the graceful dancer." The bodies were placed 
in separate graves, very deep. " The graves were filled in with straw 
and they were not filled up with earth. They were simply covered 
with strong pieces of bark placed in the form of a roof, surmounted 
by stones. Finally they placed at the head of the graves the same 
crosses which had been on the bodies. There were a number of others 
in the cemetery. When these crosses begin to decay the Indians are 
careful to renew them, as well as the palisade with which the burial 
ground is surrounded, for fear that dogs or wild beasts might come 
and dig up the dead." (Le Beau, (1), pp. 300-315.) The writer 
continues, saying that in earlier days the graves of these people were 
" hollowed out round like pits." 

This was the principal town of the Seneca, and the river which 
flowed near by, and to which the body of the man was carried to 
wash away the black and white with which it had, at first, been 
covered, was the Genesee. The valley of this stream, passing through 
the counties of Monroe and Livingston, was the home of the Seneca, 
and, as Squier wrote when describing the latter region, " It is un- 
surpassed in beauty and fertility by any territory of equal extent 
in the State, and abounds with mementoes of its aboriginal posses- 
sors, who yielded it reluctantly into the hands of the invading 
whites. Here, too, once existed a considerable number of ancient 
earthworks, but the levelling plough has passed over most of them; 
and though their sites are still remembered by the early settlers, but 
few are sufficiently well preserved to admit of exact survey and 
measurement." (Squier, (1), pp. 43-44.) 



bushnell] NATIVE CEMETERIES AND EORMS OF BURIAL 87 

But although the embankments which once surrounded the ancient 
villages are rapidly disappearing, and all traces of the palisades 
have vanished, nevertheless the cemeteries are to be discovered, and 
the same writer continued (p. 45) : "At various places in the county 
large cemeteries are found; but most, if not all, of them may be with 
safet}^ referred to the Senecas. Indeed, many articles of European 
origin accompany the skeletons. A cemetery of large size, and, from 
the character of the relics found in the graves, of high antiquity, is 
now in part covered by the village of Lima. Pipes, pottery, etc., 
are discovered here in great abundance ; and it is worthy of remark, 
they are identical with those found within the ancient enclosures." 

Possibly the cemetery in which the two Algonquians were buried 
during the month of June, 1731, was among those examined by 
Squier. It is of interest to add that on the left bank of the Genesee, 
nearly opposite Avon, stood the town of Canawaugus, the birthplace 
of the great Chief Cornplanter, and on the site are found objects of 
both European and native origin. Just north of the preceding site, 
on the western edge of Scottsville, in Monroe County, is an old ceme- 
tery " in a gravel pit. The skeletons are drawn up, but no articles 
are found except a flat stone at the feet of each." (Beauchamp, (1).) 
This seems to refer to flexed remains as distinguished from the ex- 
tended bodies discovered in the more recent graves, and may have 
been those " hollowed out round like pits," mentioned by Le Beau as 
being the older form. 

VARIOUS TYPES OF BURIALS 

Many burials of special interest, either by reason of their rather 
unusual form or the material which they revealed, have been dis- 
covered in different parts of the present State of New York. These 
may be attributed to the people of the Five Nations, and seem to 
prove that all followed various methods of disposing of their dead. 
The quotations are made from Beauchamp, (1), by whom the infor- 
mation was gathered from several sources. In Genesee County, the 
home of the Seneca, a cemetery encountered in a gravel bank some 
6 miles southeast of Bergen " has skeletons in a sitting posture, with 
and without early relics." These were undoubtedly flexed, the bodies 
closely wrapped and then placed in pits — the early form of inhuma- 
tion. Eastward from the preceding, in Seneca County, once occupied 
by the Cayuga, the ancient village of Kendaia stood about 4 miles 
southwest of the present settlement of Eomulus. It was destroyed 
in 1779. One of the graves then standing was thus described : " The 
body was laid on the surface of the earth in a shroud or garment; 
then a large casement made very neat with boards something larger 
than the body and about four foot high put over the body as it lay 



88 



BUREAU OF AMERICAN ETHNOLOGY 



[bull. 71 



on the earth ; and the outside and top were painted very curious with 
a great many colors. In each end of the casement was a small hole 
where the friends of the deceased or anybody might see the corpse 
when they pleased. Then over all was built a large shed of bark 
so as to prevent the rain from coming on the vault." The painting 
on this tomb may have resembled the decoration on the Oneida 
graves described by Van Curler nearly a century and a half earlier. 

In Onondaga County, on lot 13 of the town of Lafayette, is the 
site of a village, with an orchard. This was a settlement of the 
tribe whose name is now perpetuated by the county, and was aban- 
doned in 1779. The objects found on the site are of both native and 
European origin ; " a burial-place has the graves in rows, and also 
scattered promiscuously. The bodies were inclosed in boxes of wood 
or bark." Evidently this cemetery and the adjoining village existed 
during the transition period, when some material was being derived 
from the whites, but before it had entirely replaced the products 
of the Iroquois. 

When enlarging the canal, in Oriskany, in Oneida County, during 
the year 1849, " ten or more skeletons were found in logs hollowed 
out by burning. They had medals and ornaments. One medal of 
George I was dated in 1731. The others were dated from 1731 to 
1735. In two instances the heads of three or four skeletons were 
placed together and the bodies radiated from these. There are 
ear and nose ornaments of red slate and some pipes." These were 
probably Oneida burials, as this was within the limits of their tribal 
lands. In the southern part of the region occupied by the Oneida, 
later the home of the Tuscarora, near Eichfield Springs, in Otsego 
County, " skeletons were found with flat stones over the face." And 
in the adjoining county of Chenango were many embankments on 
the east side of the Chenango, south of Oxford. " There were also 
traces of graves nearby, lined above and below with cobble stones. 
The upper stratum of these had fallen in." And at another place 
in the same county "were human bones in great abundance, the 
skeletons buried nearly upright." 

BELIEF IN A FUTURE STATE AFTER DEATH 

The Iroquois belief in a future state after death was thus related 
by Morgan : " The religious system of the Iroquois taught that it was 
a journey from earth to heaven of many days' duration. Originally, 
it was supposed to be a year, and the period of mourning for the de- 
parted was fixed at that term. At its expiration, it was customary 
for the relatives of the deceased to hold a feast ; the soul of the de- 
parted having reached heaven, and a state of felicity, there was no 
longer any cause for mourning. The spirit of grief was exchanged 



BDSHNELL] 



NATIVE CEMETERIES AND FORMS OF BURIAL 



89 



for that of rejoicing. In modern times the mourning period has been 
reduced to ten days, and the journey of the spirit is now believed to be 
performed in three. The spirit of the deceased was supposed to hover 
around the body for a season, before it took its final departure ; and 
not until after the expiration of a year according to the ancient belief, 
and ten days according to the present, did it become permanently at 
rest in heaven. A beautiful custom prevailed in ancient times, of cap- 
turing a bird, and freeing it over the grave on the evening of the 
burial, to bear away the spirit to its heavenly rest. Their notions of 
the state of the soul when disembodied, are vague and diversified ; but 
they all agree that, during the journey, it required the same nourish- 
ment as while it dwelt in the body. They, therefore, deposited beside 
the deceased his bow and arrows, tobacco and pipe, and necessary food 
for the journey. They also painted and dressed the body in its best 
apparel. A fire was built upon the grave at night, to enable the spirit 
to prepare its food." (Morgan, (1), pp. 174-175.) 

Morgan also referred to the ancient custom " of addressing the 
dead before burial, under the belief that they could hear, although 
unable to answer. The near relatives and friends, or such as were dis- 
posed, approached the body in turn; and after the wail had ceased, 
they addressed it in a pathetic or laudatory speech. The practice has 
not even yet fallen entirely into disuse." It will be recalled that at 
the Seneca town of Tsonnontouanne, in 1731, the French traveler 
Le Beau witnessed this peculiar ceremony, which had already been 
described by Lahontan a generation before. ( (1) , II, pp. 51-52.) 

Another strange custom of these people was mentioned by the same 
writer when describing their dances. He said: "An occasional and 
very singular figure was called the Dance for the Dead. 'It was known 
as the O-ke-wa. It was danced by the women alone. The music was 
entirely vocal, a select band of singers being stationed in the center 
of the room. To the songs for the dead, which they sang, the dancers 
joined in chorus. It was plaintive and mournful music. This dance 
was usually separate from all councils, and the only dance of the occa- 
sion. It commenced at dusk, or soon after, and continued until to- 
wards morning, when the shades of the dead, who were believed to be 
present and participate in the dance, were supposed to disappear. 
This dance was had whenever a family, which had lost a member, 
called for it, which was usually about a year after the event. In the 
spring and fall, it was often given for all the dead indiscriminately, 
who were believed then to revisit the earth and join in the dance." 
This ceremony agrees with the Keutikaw of their neighbors to the 
eastward. 

Such were the customs of the people of the Five Nations. 



90 



BUREAU OF AMERICAN ETHNOLOGY 



[bull. 71 



IROQTJOIAN TRIBES ADJOINING THE FIVE NATIONS 

Westward from the region just described, in the northern part of 
the State of Ohio, bordering on the south shore of Lake Erie, are 
to be found many ancient inclosures, erected to surround and pro- 
tect a village, thus resembling the works once so numerous in the 
country of the Five Nations. And it is quite evident that these were 
likewise erected by an Iroquoian tribe, probably the long extinct 
Erie who were lost to history about the middle of the seventeenth 
century. The works in northern Ohio, often of irregular form, and 
in many instances a wall extending across a neck of land, must not 
be confused with the remarkable squares and circles, octagons, and 
great walls existing in the southern part of the State. 

Tribes belonging to the same linguistic stock occupied the greater 
part of the State of Pennsylvania, adjoining the country of the Five 
Nations on the north. Of these tribes the Susquehanna, known in 
history since the year 1608, was the most important. But their terri- 
tory in later years became the home of other tribes, some of which 
had been forced westward by the ever-growing colonies along the 
coast, and many moved into the rich valley of the Susquehanna, where 
game was plentiful and consequently food could be easily secured. 
There were several important villages in the valley of the West 
Branch of the Susquehanna, near the present Lockhaven, Clinton 
County. One of these later Delaware towns stood near "Monseytown 
Flats," and the site of the cemetery which adjoined the village is 
shown in plate 10, a. It is said that in addition to Delaware and 
Shawnee, many Seneca and Cayuga are buried here. The cemetery 
occupied the Jevel area on the far side of the river, as shown in the 
photograph. 

THE CHEROKEE 

Far to the southward, occupying the beautiful hills and valleys of 
eastern Tennessee and the adjoining parts of Georgia and Carolina, 
lived that great detached Iroquoian tribe, the Cherokee. Here they 
lived when the country was traversed by the Spaniards in 1540, and 
here they continued for three centuries. But although so frequently 
mentioned by early writers, and so often visited by traders, very little 
can be learned regarding their burial customs. Nevertheless it is evi- 
dent they often placed the body on the exposed surface, on some 
high, prominent point, and then covered it with many stones gathered 
from the surface. Such stone mounds are quite numerous, not only 
on the hills once occupied by the Cherokee, but far northward. Many 
of the western towns of the Cherokee, often termed the Overhill 
Towns, were in the vicinity of Blount County, Tennessee. Many 
stone mounds were there on the hilltops, and these may justly be at- 



bushnell] NATIVE CEMETERIES AND FORMS OF BURIAL 



91 



tributed to the Cherokee, but all may not have covered the remains 
of the dead. " Leaving Chilhowee Valley and crossing the Alleghany 
range toward North Carolina, in a southeast course, having Little 
Tennessee River on my right, and occasionally in sight from the cliffs, 
my attention was called along the road, to stone heaps. . . . After an 
examination of the objects and a talk with Indians and the oldest in- 
habitants, I came to the conclusion that there were two kinds of these 
remains in this part of Tennessee, which are sometimes confounded, 
viz, landmarks, or stone piles, thrown together by the Indians at cer- 
tain points in their journeys, and those which marked a place of 
burial. At a pass called Indian Grave Gap, I noticed the pile which 
has given its name to the mountain gorge. The monument is com- 
posed simply of round stones raised three feet above the soil, and is 
six feet long and three wide. As the grave had been disturbed I could 
make no satisfactory examination of its contents. On the opposite 
side of the Gap, a stone heap of another description was observed, 
which had been thrown together in accordance with Cherokee super- 
stition, that assigns some good fortune to the accumulation of those 
piles. They, had the custom, in their journeys and war-like expedi- 
tions, at certain known points, before marked out, of casting down a 
stone and upon their return another. . . . Four miles from Indian 
Grave Gap, on the west side of my path, on a ridge destitute of vege- 
tation, I observed twenty-five of these stone heaps which covered 
human remains. I examined a number of them, which were four or 
five feet high and eight in diameter, and shaped like a hay-cock. . . . 
In one I found pieces of rotten wood that had been deposited there, 
fragments of bones, and animal mold. The deposit had been made on 
the surface of the earth, covered with wood and bark, and crowned 
with a cone of round stones. From the center of one heap three small 
bells were extracted, having the letters J R engraved on them. They 
much resemble sleigh bells. . . . The Cherokee custom of burying the 
dead under heaps of stone, it is well known, was practiced as late as 
1730." (Dunning, (1), pp. 376"380.) 

This should probably be accepted as the characteristic custom 
of the early Cherokee before coming under the influence of the 
whites. 

As already mentioned, the western towns of the Cherokee were in 
eastern Tennessee, and of these many were in the valley of the Little 
Tennessee. Here stood " Chote the Metropolis" the scene of many 
important gatherings during the eighteenth century. The great 
town house stood on the summit of an artificial mound, undoubtedly 
one of those described by Thomas, and may have been the large 
mound on the south side of the river, in Monroe County, designated 
the " McGee mound, No. 2." The diameters of the mound were 70 



92 



BUREAU OF AMERICAN ETHNOLOGY 



[BULL. 71 



and 55 feet; its height when examined, 5 feet, which was probably 
much less than its original height. The excavation of the work re- 
vealed burials as indicated on the plan (fig. 12). Thirteen entire 
skeletons were found, and " at c lay 12 skulls on the same level, three 
feet below the surface of the mound, touching each other, with no other 
bones in connection with or immediately about them. At a little 
west of the center, and resting on the original surface, was a rough 
wall, about two feet high, built of slate stones; circular in form, 
inclosing a space about nine feet in diameter. The dirt inside being 
cleared away, twelve skulls and a large number of long and other 
bones were discovered. Eleven of the skulls were lying close to- 




Fig. 12. — Burials in mound at Chote. 



gether on one side, as shown in the figure, the other lying alone 
on the opposite side, but each entirely disconnected from the other 
parts of the skeleton to which it belonged. The other bones were 
much broken and mingled together in a promiscuous mass. West 
of the wall and near the west end of the mound were five more skulls 
lying together, and amid other bones, marked a in the figure. The 
bottom of the inclosure, which corresponded with the original sur- 
face of the ground, was covered for an inch or two with coals and 
ashes, on which the skulls and other bones rested. But neither coal 
nor ashes were found outside of the wall. All the skeletons and 
other remains outside of the wall lay a foot or more above the 
original surface of the ground." (Thomas, (1), pp. 378-379.) 



bushnell] NATIVE CEMETERIES ANT) FORMS OF BURIAL 



93 



A few objects of stone and shell and some copper beads were 
associated with the various burials, but! apparently nothing' tof 
European origin was encountered. Other mounds of equal interest 
marking the positions of the same period were examined and de- 
scribed by the same writer. 

The interior arrangement of the mound just mentioned, the mound 
upon which the great rotunda of Chote may have stood for many 
years, is quite suggestive of the traditional account of such a mound 
as related to Mooney by one of his most conservative informants. 
The circle of stones, with a mass of ashes and charcoal within the 
inclosure, seems to be explained by this tradition. 

" Some say that the mounds were built by another people. Others 
say they were built by the ancestors of the old Ani Kituhwagi for 
townhouse foundations, so that the townhouses would be safe when 
freshets came. The townhouse was always built on the level bottom 
lands by the river in order that the people might have smooth ground 
for their dances and ballplays and might be able to go down to water 
during the dance. When they were ready to build the mound they 
began by laying a circle of stones on the surface of the ground. 
Next they made a fire in the center of the circle and put near it the 
body of some prominent chief or priest who had lately died — 
some say seven chief men from the different clans. . . . The mound 
was then built up with earth, which the women brought in 
baskets . . ." (Mooney, (2), p. 395.) 

And so the tradition continues, relating the various ceremonies 
whicji attended the construction of the work. This was not the ac- 
count of the building of any particular mound, but merely the de- 
scription, in general, of the construction of an elevated site upon 
which the town house would later be reared. Of what great interest 
would be a detailed account of the various rites which were enacted 
at the time .the fire was kindled within the circle of stones ; at the 
time the bodies of the great men were placed on the surface, later 
to be covered by the mound of earth. The remains were probably 
wrapped and decorated with the richest possessions of the living, 
with ornaments and objects of a perishable nature, all of which, 
unfortunately, soon crumbled away and so disappeared, leaving only 
scant traces of what had once been covered by the earth, " which the 
women brought in baskets." 

MUSKHOGEAN GKOUPS 

The southern pine lands, from the Mississippi to the Atlantic and 
from the lowlands of the Gulf coast to the southern Alleghenies, was 
the home of Muskhogean tribes. The Choctaw, Natchez, and Chick- 
asaw lived in the West. Numerous smaller tribes, later recognized as 
forming the Creek confederacy, occupied the valleys of the Coosa, 



94 



BUREAU OF AMERICAN ETHNOLOGY 



[bull. 71 



Tallapoosa, and Chattahoochee. The Yamasi and others were nearer 
the coast on the east. The Seminole of Florida were immigrants 
from the Lower Creek towns on the Chattahoochee and did not enter 
the peninsula until about the middle of the eighteenth century. Their 
number was increased from time to time by others from the same 
towns. Certain members of this linguistic group erected great cir- 
cular town houses, frequently a strong framework of wood covered 
with clay, in which to conduct their various ceremonies. These were 
the largest and most imposing structures reared by any of the east- 
ern tribes. Similar buildings were erected by the neighboring Cher- 
okee. The majority of these village houses appear to have stood on 
mounds raised for the purpose. The habitations of these people were, 
in many instances, frames of either circular or quadrangular form, 
covered with thatch, or clay applied in a plastic state and allowed 
to dry and harden. 

THE CHOCTAW 

Thus the greater part of the southern country was claimed and 
occupied by tribes belonging to the Muskhogean group, who were 
first encountered by the Spanish explorers of the early sixteenth 
century, and who continued to occupy the region until removed 
during the first half of the nineteenth century. For three centuries 
they are known to have remained within the same limited area. 
On the west were the Choctaw, whose villages extended over a large 
part of the present State of Mississippi and eastward into Alabama. 
And to this tribe should undoubtedly be attributed the many burial 
mounds now encountered within the bounds of their ancient terri- 
tory, but the remains as now found embedded in a mass of sand and 
earth forming the mound represent only one, the last, phase of the 
ceremonies which attended the death and burial of the Choctaw. 
These as witnessed and described by Bartram were quite distinct. 

"As soon as a person is dead, they erect a scaffold eighteen 
or twenty feet high, in a grove adjacent to the town, where 
they lay the corpse lightly covered with a mantle; here it is 
suffered to remain, visited and protected by the friends and 
relations, until the flesh becomes putrid, so as easily to part 
from the bones ; then undertakers, who made it their business, care- 
fully strip the flesh from the bones, wash and cleanse them, and 
when dry and purified by the air, having provided a curiously 
wrought chest or coffin, fabricated of bones and splints, they place 
all the bones therein ; it is then deposited in the bone house, a build- 
ing erected for that purpose in every town. And when this house is 
full, a general solemn funeral takes place; the nearest kindred or 
friends of the deceased, on a day appointed, repair to the bone 
house, take up the respective coffins, and follow one another in order 
of seniority, the nearest relations and connexions attending their 



bushnjbll] NATIVE CEMETERIES AND EORMS OE BURIAL 



95 



respective corpse, and the multitude following after them, all as 
one family, with united voice of alternate Allelujah and lamenta- 
tion, slowly proceed to the place of general interment, where they 
place the coffins in order, forming a pyramid; and lastly, cover all 
over with earth, which raises a conical hill or mount. Then they 
return to town in order of solemn procession, concluding the day 
with a festival, which is called the feast of the dead." (Bartram, 
(1), pp. 514-515.) 

The several writers who left records of the Choctaw ceremonies 
varied somewhat in their accounts of the treatment of the dead, but 
differed only in details, not in any main questions. And to quote 
from Capt. Romans: "As soon as the deceased is departed, a stage 
is erected (as in the annexed plate is represented) [pi. 12], and the 
corpse is laid on it and covered with a bear skin ; if he be a man of 
note, it is decorated, and the poles painted red with vermillion and 
bears oil ; if a child, it is put upon stakes set across ; at this stage the 
relations come and weep, asking many questions of the corpse, such 
as, why he left them ? did not his wife serve him well ? was he not 
contented with his children? had he not corn enough? did not his 
land produce sufficient of everything ? was he afraid of his enemies ? 
&c. and this accompanied by loud howlings ; the women will be there 
constantly and sometimes with the corrupted air and heat of the sun 
faint so as to oblige the by standers to carry them home; the men 
also come and mourn in the same manner, but in the night or at other 
unseasinable times, when they are least likely to be discovered. The 
stage is fenced round with poles, it remains thus a certain time but 
not a fixed space, this is sometimes extended to three or four months, 
but seldom more than half that time. A certain set of venerable old 
Gentlemen who wear very long nails as a distinguishing badge on the 
thumb, fore and middle finger of each hand, constantly travel through 
the nation (when I was there I was told there were but five of this 
respectable order) that one of them may acquaint those concerned, 
of the expiration of this period, which is according to their own 
fancy; the day being come, the friends and relations assemble near 
the stage, a fire is made, and the respectable operator, after the body 
is taken down, with his nails tears the remaining flesh off the bones, 
and throws it with the intrails into the fire, where it is consumed; 
then he scrapes the bones and burns the scrapings likewise ; the head 
being painted red with vermillion is with the rest of the bones put 
into a neatly made chest (which for a Chief is also made red) and 
deposited in the loft of a hut built for that purpose, and called bone 
house ; each town has one of these ; after remaining here one year or 
thereabouts, if he be a man of any note, they take the chest down, and 
in an assembly of relations and friends they weep once more over 
him, refresh the colour of the head, paint the box red, and then de- 
posit him to lasting oblivion." (Romans, (1), pp. 89-90.) 



96 



BUEEAU OF AMERICAN ETHNOLOGY 



[BULL. 71 



Fortunately another description gives more details of the form of 
the so-called " bone houses " and the manner in which they were 
entered. According to Adair, the body was placed " on a high 
scaffold stockaded round, at the distance of twelve yards from his 
house opposite to the door." At the beginning of the fourth moon 
after burial a feast was prepared, the bone picker removed all 
adhering flesh from the bones, which were then placed in a small 
chest and carried to the " bone-house, which stands in a solitary place, 
apart from the town. . . . Those bone-houses are scaffolds raised 
on durable pitchpine forked posts, in the form of a house covered 
a-top, but open at both ends. I saw three of them in one of their 
towns, pretty near each other, the place seemed to be unfrequented; 
each house contained the bones of one tribe, separately. ... I 
observed a ladder fixed in the ground, opposite to the middle of the 
broad side of each of those dormitories of the dead. . . . On the top 
was the carved image of a dove, with its wings stretched out, and 
its head inclining downward." (Adair, (1), pp. 183-184.) 

The time for holding the great ceremony for the dead is mentioned 
in another account, written, however, during the same generation 
as the preceding. This was prepared by a French officer, the others 
having been the observations of Englishmen. 

u When a Choctaiu dies, his corpse is exposed upon a bier, made 
on purpose, of cypress bark, and placed on four posts fifteen feet 
high. When the wormes have consumed all the flesh, the whole 
family assembles ; some one dismembers ' the skeleton, and plucks 
off all muscles, nerves and tendons that still remain, they bury them 
and deposit the bones in a chest, after colouring the head with Ver- 
million. The relations weep during this ceremony, which is fol- 
lowed by a feast, with which those friends are treated who come to 
pay their compliments of condolence; after that, the remains of their 
late relation are brought to the common burying ground, and put in 
the place where his ancestor's bones were deposited. ... In the 
first days of November they celebrate a great feast, which they call 
the feast of the dead, or of the souls ; all the families then go to the 
burying-ground, and with tears in their eyes visit the chests which 
contain the relics of relations, and when they return, they give a 
great treat, which finishes the feast." (Bossu, (1), I, pp. 298-299.) 

One narrative remains to be quoted, a manuscript treating of 
Louisiana soon after the coming of the French, and although the 
name of the author is not known and it does not bear a date, it was 
without doubt prepared by some French officer about the year 1730. 
Referring to the burial customs of the Choctaw, he wrote : 

"As soon as he is dead his relatives erect a kind of cabin, the 
shape of a coffin, directly opposite his door six feet from the ground 
on six stakes, surrounded by a mud wall, and covered with bark in 
which they enclose this body all dressed, and which they cover with 



bushnell] NATIVE CEMETERIES AND FORMS OF BURIAL 



97 



a blanket. They place food and drink beside him, give a change of 
shoes, his gun, powder, and balls. . . . The body rests in this five 
or six months until they think that it is rotted, which makes a terrible 
stench in the house. After some time all the relatives assemble cere- 
moniously and the femme de valleur of the village who has for her 
function to strip off the flesh from the bones of the dead, comes to 
take off the flesh from this body, cleans the bones well, and places 
them in a very clean cane hamper, which they enclose in linen or 
cloth. They throw the flesh into a field, and this same flesh stripper, 
without washing her hands, comes to serve food to the assembly. 
This woman is very much honored in the village. After the repast 
the} 7 go singing and howling to carry the bones into the charnel- 
house of the canton which is a cabin with only one covering in which 
these hampers are placed in a row on poles. The same ceremony is 
performed over chiefs except that instead of putting the bones in 
hampers they are placed in chests ... in the charnel-house of the 
chiefs." (Relation de La Louisianne.) 

According to this unknown writer it was the belief of the Choctaw 
that in after life all performed the same acts and had the same re- 
quirements as in this; therefore the dead were provided with food, 
weapons, articles of clothing, and other necessaries. 

Summarizing the several accounts presented on the preceding 
pages, it is possible to form a very clear conception of the burial 
customs of the Choctaw, which evidently varied somewhat in differ- 
ent parts of their country and at different times. Then again, the 
observers may not have been overly careful in recording details, but 
in the main all agree. 

Soon after death a scaffold was erected near the habitation of the 
deceased or in a near-by grove. Resting upon the scaffold was " a 
kind of cabin, the shape of a coffin," which undoubtedly varied 
greatly in form, and in early days these appear to have been made 
of wattlework coated with mud and covered over with bark. The 
body would be placed within this box-like inclosure after first being 
wrapped in bearskins, a blanket, or some other material of a suitable 
nature. Food was deposited with the body, and likewise many ob- 
jects esteemed by the living. With children a lighter frame would 
serve — crossed poles, as mentioned by Romans and likewise indicated 
in his drawing. 

Thus the body would remain several months and until the flesh 
became greatly decayed. Then certain persons, usually men, al- 
though women at times held the office, would remove all particles of 
flesh from the bones, using only their fingers in performing this work. 
The flesh so removed, and all particles scraped from the bones, would 
be burned, buried in the ground, or merely scattered. Next the 
bones would be washed and dried ; some were then painted with ver- 
130548°— 20 7 



98 



BUREAU OF AMERICAN ETHNOLOGY 



[bull. 71 



milion mixed with bear's oil; then all would be placed in baskets 
or chests and carried and deposited in the "bone house." Every 
town had one such structure, which evidently stood at the outskirts 
of the village. Adair mentioned having seen " three of them in one 
of their towns, pretty near each other . . . each house contained the 
bones of one tribe " — i. e., clan. And this proves the recognition of 
clan distinction or rights, even after death. These "bone houses" 
seem to have resembled the houses of the living, being roofed but 
open at both ends. They were raised above the ground on stout posts 
and were reached by ladders. Some were surmounted by carved 
figures, one being that of " a dove, with its wings stretched out, and 
its head inclined downward." In some instances in olden times the 
remains of the chief men appear to have been placed in a separate 
house set apart for that particular purpose. 

When the remains of many had thus accumulated in the " bone 
houses " the friends and relatives of the dead would gather and " a 
general solemn funeral " would take place. On the day appointed 
the chests and baskets containing the bones would be removed from 
the " bone houses " and the friends and relatives would carry them 
in procession, " with united voice of alternate Allelujah and lamenta- 
tion," to a chosen spot, where they were placed one upon another 
in the form of a pyramid, and when thus arranged all would be cov- 
ered by a mass of earth, so making a conical mound, many of which 
now stand scattered over the region once occupied by this numerous 
tribe. But now the chests and baskets in which the bones were 
deposited have disappeared, together with all else of a perishable 
nature, and the bones themselves are fast crumbling to dust. 

The strange Choctaw custom gradually passed, and just a century 
ago, in January, 1820, it was said: " Their ancient mode of exposing 
the dead upon scaffolds, and afterwards separating the flesh from the 
bones, is falling into disuse, though still practiced ... by the six 
towns of the Choctaws on the Pascagoula." (Nuttall, (1), p. 235.) 
This refers to the Oklahannali, or " Sixtowns," the name of the most 
important subdivision of the tribe, who occupied the region mentioned. 

Undoubtedly many mounds now standing in parts of Mississippi 
and Alabama owe their origin to the burial custom of the Choctaw, 
but, unfortunately, few have been examined with sufficient care to 
reveal their true form. One, however, was of the greatest interest, 
and the discovery of glass beads and sheet metal in contact with 
many of the burials proved the mound to have been erected after the 
coming of Europeans to the lower Mississippi Valley. This mound 
stood on the bank of the Mississippi, at Oak Bend Landing, in War- 
ren County, Mississippi. It had been greatly modified and a house 
had been built upon it, so it had been reduced to 3 feet in height, 
with diameters of 50 and 60 feet. When examined, 28 burials were 
encountered, " mostly belonging to the bunched variety, but a few 



bdshneliJ NATIVE CEMETERIES AND FORMS OF BURIAL 



99 



burials of adults extended on the back, and the skeletons of several 
children also were present in the mound. . . . Some of the bunched 
burials were extensive, one having no fewer than thirty skulls (many 
in fragments) and a great quantity of other bones. . . The skulls of 
the bunched burials, as a rule, were heaped together at one side of 
the burial. . . . Forty-six vessels of earthenware, mostly in small 
fragments, were recovered from this mound." (Moore, (2), pp. 
378-381.) 

The great masses or deposits of human remains encountered in 
this mound is at once suggestive of the final disposition of the Choc- 
taw dead, after the bodies had been removed from their earlier rest- 
ing places, the flesh stripped from the bones, and the latter inclosed 
in baskets, finally to be arranged in heaps and covered with earth, 
thus forming a mound, to be added to from time to time. It is highly 
probable that in the older mounds all traces of the remains have dis- 
appeared, leaving no evidence of the original nature or form of the 
structure. 

But other mounds within this region, revealing many human re- 
mains in such positions as to prove the bodies to have been buried 
without the removal of the flesh, may also be of Choctaw origin, but 
erected under far different conditions. It is interesting to learn 
causes which led to the erection of several of these great tombs. 
Two, covering the dead of two tribes, stood about 2 miles south of 
West Point, Clay County, Mississippi. " The Choctaws and Chicka- 
saws had occasional conflicts, particularly after the whites appeared 
in the country. The former were allies of the French. The latter 
were under English control, and the rivalry of these kept the two 
kindred tribes on bad terms. They had a great battle about two 
miles south of West Point. There may yet be seen two mounds, about 
one hundred yards apart. After the fight they came to terms, and 
erected these mounds over their dead, and to the neighboring stream 
they gave the name Oka-tibbe-ha, or Fighting Water." (Claiborne, 
(1), pp. 484-4:85.) 

In the southwestern part of Alabama, the heart of the old Choctaw 
country, are numerous mounds, many of which when examined re- 
vealed more clearly than did those already mentioned the peculiarities 
of the Choctaw burial customs. Among these were two which stood 
not far from the left bank of the Tombigbee, near Jackson, Clarke 
County, Alabama. The more northerly of these was about 43 feet 
in diameter and 2 feet iri height. " Human remains were found in 
eleven places, consisting of lone skulls, small bunches, and fragments 
of bone, all in the last stage of decay." (Moore, (3), pp. 258-259.) 
A number of small stone implements were associated with some of 
the burials, and a single object of copper was found near where a 
skeleton may have rested, all traces of which had disappeared. 



100 BUREAU OF AMERICAN ETHNOLOGY [bull. 71 

A mound only a short distance northward from the preceding, 
examined and described at the same time (op. cit., pp. 260-262), 
proved even more interesting. It was somewhat larger, being 48 
feet in diameter and 5 feet in height. In it "human remains were 
met with in forty-five places, the deepest being feet from the 
surface. All bones were in the last stage of decay and crumbling to 
bits," Of the burials, 23 were described as " isolated skulls," others 
were skulls with various bones, or bones without the skulls. Objects 
of stone and copper and vessels of earthenware were encountered 
during the exploration of the burial place. It is quite evident the 
smaller, more fragile bones had disappeared through decay. 

A small group of Choctaw lived, until a few years ago, near Bayou 
Lacomb, St. Tammany Parish, Louisiana, on the north shore of Lake 
Pontchartrain. They were few in number, and the oldest person 
among them was probably little more than 50 years of age, and un- 
fortunately they were unable to describe the old tribal burial customs. 
But although they knew little of the manner in which the bodies of 
their ancestors were treated, they were able to recall the manner in 
which the living mourned for the dead. According to the best in- 
formed, the period of mourning varied as did the age of the deceased. 
An older person, as the mother or father, was thus honored for six 
months or even a year, but for a child or young person the period did 
not exceed three months. During this time the women cut their hair 
and often gathered near the grave and " cried." When it was desired 
to cease mourning, the person stuck into the ground, so as to form a 
triangle, three pieces of wood, several feet in height. The three 
sticks were drawn together at the top and tied with a piece of bright- 
colored cloth or some other material. These sticks, so tied and 
decorated, stood near the entrance of the habitation and indicated 
that the occupants desired to cease mourning. The three days fol- 
lowing the mourners cried or wailed three times each day — at sunrise, 
at noon, and at sunset. And while thus expressing their grief they 
would be wrapped in blankets which covered their heads, and they sat 
or knelt upon the ground. During these three days their friends 
gathered and soon began dancing and feasting. At the expiration of 
the three days all ceased weeping and joined in the festivities, which 
continued another day. It is quite interesting to compare certain 
details of this brief description with the graphic drawing made by 
Capt. Romans, in which the manner of mourning as followed by the 
women is so clearly shown, sitting near the grave, wrapped in blankets 
which covered their heads. 

According to the beliefs of the same Choctaw, " persons dying by 
violent deaths involving loss of blood, even a few drops, do not pass 
to the home of Aba (heaven), regardless of the character of their 
earthly lives, or their rank in the tribe. At night spirits are wont to 
travel along the trails and roads used by living men, and thus avoid 



bdshnell] NATIVE CEMETERIES AND FORMS OF BURIAL 101 



meeting the bad spirit, Nanapolo, whose wanderings are confined to 
the dark and unfrequented paths of the forest. The spirits of men 
like the country traversed and occupied by living men, and that is why 
Skilup, the ghost, is often seen moving among the trees or following 
persons after sunset. The spirits of all persons not meeting violent 
deaths, with the exception of those only who murder or attempt to 
murder their fellow Choctaw, go to the home of Aba. There it 
is always spring, with sunshine and flowers ; there are birds and fruit 
and game in abundance. There the Choctaw ever sing and dance, 
and trouble is not known. All who enter this paradise become 
equally virtuous without regard to their state while on earth. The 
unhappy spirits who fail to reach the home of Aba remain on earth 
in the vicinity of the places where they have died. But Nanapolo, the 
bad spirit, is never able to gain possession of the spirit of a Choctaw." 
(Bushnell, (5), pp. 27-29.) 

THE NATCHEZ 

When referring to the burial customs of the Natchez, that most 
interesting of the many tribes of the lower Mississippi Valley, the 
early writers by whom the tribe was visited seldom alluded to the 
rites which f attended the final disposition of the remains of the less 
important members of the nation, but devoted themselves to describ- 
ing the varied and sanguinary ceremonies enacted at the time of 
the death and burial of a Sun. Swanton has already brought 
together the various accounts and descriptions of these most unusual 
acts, and consequently they need not be repeated at the present time. 
(Swanton, (1), pp. 138-157.) Nevertheless the first two will be 
quoted to serve as means of comparing the remarkable ceremonies 
followed by members of this tribe with the manners and customs of 
their neighbors. Of the two accounts given below, Swanton said : 
" The first was given to Gravier by the French youth whom Iber- 
ville left in 1700 to learn the Natchez language, and the second 
details the obsequies of a grand chieftainess of which the author 
Penicaut claims to have been a witness in 1704." 

" The Frenchman whom M. dTberville left there to learn the lan- 
guage told me that on the death of the last chief they put to death 
two women, three men, and three children. They strangled them 
with a bowstring, and this cruel ceremony was performed with 
great pomp, these wretched victims deeming themselves greatly 
honored to accompany their chief by a violent death. There were 
only seven for the great chief who died some months before. His 
wife, better advised than the others, did not wish to follow him, 
and began to weep when they wished to oblige her to accompany 
her husband. Mr. de Montigni, who has left this country to go to 
Siam, being informed of what they were accustomed to do, made 
them promise not to put anyone to death. As a pledge of their 



102 



BUREAU OF AMERICAN ETHNOLOGY 



[BULL. 71 



word they gave him a little female slave, whom they had resolved 
to put to death but for his prohibition; but to keep their cursed 
custom without it being perceived, the woman chief, whom they 
call Ouachil Tamail, Sun women (who is always the sister and not 
the wife of the great chief), persuaded him to retire to a distant 
village so as not to have his head split with the noise they would 
make in a ceremony where all were to take part. Mr. de Montigni, 
not suspecting anything, believed her and withdrew, but in his 
absence they put to death those whom they believed to be necessary 
to go to cook and wait on the chief in the other world." (Gravier, 
(1), pp. 140-143.) 

The second account given by Swanton, that claimed to have been 
witnessed by Penicaut in 1704, follows: 

" It happened in our time that the grand chief tainess Noble being 
r dead, we saw the burial ceremony, which is indeed the most horrible 
tragedy that one can witness. It made myself and all my comrades 
tremble with horror. She [i. e. the great female Sun] was a chieftain- 
ess Noble in her own right. Her husband, who was not at all noble, 
was immediately strangled by the first boy she had had by him, to ac- 
company his wife into the great village, where they believe that they 
go. After such a fine beginning they put outside of the cabin of the 
great chief all that was there. As is customary they made a kind of 
triumphal car in the cabin, where they placed the dead woman and 
her strangled husband. A moment later, they brought 12 little dead 
infants, who had been strangled, and whom they placed around the 
dead woman. It was their fathers and mothers who brought them 
there, by order of the eldest of the dead chieftainess's children, and 
who then, as grand chief, commands to have die to honor the funeral 
rites of his mother as many persons as he wishes. They had 14 scaf- 
folds prepared in the public square, which they ornamented with 
branches of trees and with cloth covered with pictures. On each scaf- 
fold a man placed himself who was going to accompany the defunct 
to the other world. They stood on these scaffolds surrounded by their 
nearest relatives; they are sometimes warned more than ten years 
before their death. It is an honor for their relatives. Ordinarily 
they have offered to die during the life of the defunct, for the good 
will which they bear him, and they themselves have tied the cord with 
which they are strangled. They are dressed in their finest clothing, 
with a large shell in the right hand, and the nearest relative — for ex- 
ample, if it is the father of a family who dies, his oldest son — walks 
behind him bearing the cord under his arm and a war club in his 
right hand. He makes a frightful cry which they call the death cry. 
Then all these unfortunate victims every quarter of an hour descend 
from their scaffolds and unite in the middle of the square, where they 
dance together before the temple and before the house of the dead 
female chief, when they remount their scaffolds to resume their 



bushnbll] NATIVE CEMETERIES AND FORMS OF BURIAL 103 

places. They are very much respected that day, and each one has five 
servants. Their faces are all reddened with vermilion. For my part 
I have thought that it was in order not to let the fear that they might 
have of their approaching death be apparent. 

" At the end of four days they begin the ceremony of 4 the march 
of the bodies.' 

" The fathers and the mothers who had brought their dead chil- 
dren took them and held them in their hands; the oldest of these 
children did not appear to be more than three years old. They 
placed them to right and left of the entrance to the cabin of the 
dead female chief. The 14 victims destined to be strangled repaired 
there in the same order; the chiefs and the relatives of the dead 
woman appeared there all in mourning — that is to say, with their 
hair cut. They then made such frightful cries that we thought the 
devils were come out of the hells to come and howl in this place. 
The unfortunate persons destined to death danced and the relatives 
of the dead woman sang. When the march of this fine convoy was 
begun by two and two, the dead woman was brought out of her 
cabin on the shoulders of four savages as on a stretcher. As soon as 
she had been taken out, they set fire to the cabin (it is the usual 
custom with the Nobles). The fathers, who carried their dead 
children in' their hands, marched in front, four paces distant from 
each other, and after marching 10 steps they let them fall to the 
ground. Those who bore the dead woman passed over and went 
around these children three times. The fathers then gathered them 
up and reassumed their places in the ranks, and at every 10 paces 
they recommenced this frightful ceremony, until they reached the 
temple, so that these children were in pieces when this fine convoy 
arrived. While they interred the female Noble in the temple 
the victims were stripped before the door, and, after they had been 
made to sit on the ground, a savage seated himself on the knees of 
each of them while another behind held his arms. They then 
passed a cord around his neck and put the skin of a deer over 
his head; they made each of these poor unfortunates swallow three 
pills of tobacco, and gave him a draught of water to drink, in 
order that the pills should dissolve in his stomach, which made him 
lose consciousness; then the relatives of the deceased ranged them- 
selves at their sides, to right and left, and each, as he sang, drew an 
end of a cord, which was passed around the neck with a running 
knot, until they were dead, after which they buried them. If a 
chief dies and still has his nurse, she must die with him. This na- 
tion still follows this execrable custom, in spite of all that has been 
done to turn them from it. Our missionaries have never been able 
to succeed in that ; all that they were able to do was to succeed some- 
times in baptizing these poor little infants before their fathers 
strangled them. Besides, this nation is too much infatuated with 



104 



BUREAU OF AMERICAN ETHNOLOGY 



[bull. 71 



its religion, which flatters the evil inclinations of their corrupt 
nature, for anyone ever to have made any progress in conversion and 
to have established Christianity there." (Margry, (1), V, pjp. 
452-455.) 

This barbaric ceremony was unknown among any other eastern 
tribe, and while so much pomp attended the burial of a Noble, the 
less important were conducted to their last resting places with simple 
rites. And mourning among the Natchez, so Charlevoix wrote, con- 
sisted of " cutting off their hair, and in not painting their faces, and 
in absenting themselves from public assemblies," but, so he con- 
tinued, " I do not know how long it lasts. I know not, either, whether 
they celebrate the grand festival of the dead, ... It seems as if 
in this nation, where everybody is in some sort the slave of those 
who command, all the honors of the dead are for those who do so, 
especially for the great chief and the woman chief." 

The Temple of the Natchez, which in many respects resembled the 
temple-tomb of the Algonquian tribes of Virginia and Carolina, was 
described by all the early historians of lower Mississippi Valley. 
These accounts have been grouped by Swanton ((1), pp. 158-167), 
and consequently only the earliest will be quoted at the present time : 
" There are only four cabins in [the village] in which is the temple. 
It is very spacious and covered with cane mats, which they renew 
every year with great ceremonies, which it would be prolix to insert 
here. They begin by a four days' fast with emetics till blood comes. 
There is no window, no chimney, in this temple, and it is only by 
the light of the fire that you can see a little, and then the door, which 
is very low and narrow, must be open. I imagine that the obscurity 
of the place inspires them with respect. The old man who is the 
keeper keeps the fire up and takes great care not to let it go out. It 
is in the center of the temple in front of a sort of mausoleum after 
the Indian fashion. There are three about 8 or 9 feet long, 6 feet 
broad, and 9 or 10 feet high. They are supported by four large posts 
covered with cane mats in quite neat columns and surmounted by a 
platform of plaited canes. This would be rather graceful were it 
not all blackened with smoke and covered with soot. There is a 
large mat which serves as a curtain to cover a large table, covered 
with five or six cane mats on which stands a large basket that it is 
unlawful to open, as the spirit of each nation of those quarters re- 
poses there, they say, with that of the Natchez. . . . There are 
others in the other two mausoleums, where the bones of their chiefs 
are, they say, which they revere as divinities. All that I saw some- 
what rare was a piece of rock crystal, which I found in a little basket. 
I saw a number of little earthen pots, platters, and cups, and little 
cane baskets, all well made. This is to serve up food to the spirits 
of the deceased chiefs, and the temple keeper finds his profit in it." 
(Gravier, (1), pp. 138-141.) 



bdshnell] NATIVE CEMETERIES AND FORMS OF BURTAL 



105 



Du Pratz a generation later gave a more detailed description and 
told how the temple stood on " a mound of earth brought thither 
which rises about 8 feet above the natural level of the ground on the 
bank of a little river." Thus an artificial mound of earth had been 
reared to serve as a site for the temple. Du Pratz's drawing of the 
temple is reproduced in figure 13. (Du Pratz, (1), III, pp. 15-20.) 

The burial customs of the northern and southern tribes differed in 
many ways, but the habit of removing the bones of the dead from an 
old settlement to a new site, so vividly described by Heckewelder 
as being followed by the Nanticoke during the first half of the 
eighteenth century, finds a parallel in the far south. To quote 
from Pere Charlevoix, who wrote under date of January 26, 1722, 
there stood, on the eastern bank of the Mississippi, immediately 
below the English reach, a short distance below New Orleans, " not 



long since, a village of the Ohouachas, the ruins of which, I have 
visited. Nothing remains entire but the cabbin of the chief, which 
bears a great resemblance to one of our peasants houses in France, 
with this difference only, that it has no windows. It is built of the 
branches of trees, the voids of which are filled up with the leaves of 
the trees called lataniers [palmetto] , and its roof is of the same 
materials." The " village is at present on the other side of the river, 
half a league lower, and the Indians have transported thither even 
the bones of their dead." (Charlevoix, (1), II, p. 292.) 



The Chickasaw lived in the hilly country north of the Choctaw, 
and although of the same stock they were ever enemies. Many of 
their customs differed and instead of the elaborate burial ceremonies 
of the Choctaw, " They bury their dead almost the moment the 
breath is out of the body, in the very spot under the couch on which 
the deceased died, and the nearest relations mourn over it with 




Fig. 13. — The Natchez Temple, after Du Pratz. 



THE CHICKASAW 



106 



BUREAU OF AMERICAN ETHNOLOGY 



[bull. 71 



woeful lamentations; the women are very vociferous in it, but the 
men do it in silence, taking great care not to be seen any more than 
heard at this business; the mourning continues about a year, which 
they know by counting the moons, they are every morning and 
evening, and at first throughout the day at different times, em- 
ployed in the exercise of this last duty." (Komans, (1), p. 71.) ' 
More details of the ceremony were recorded by Adair, who was 
well acquainted with the manners and customs of the Chickasaw, 
having traded among them for many years. According to his nar- 
rative: "When any of their people die at home, they wash and 
anoint the corpse, and soon bring it out of doors . . . after a 
short eulogium, and space of mourning, they carry him three times 
around the house in which he is to be interred, stoping half a min- 
ute each time." The excavation was described as being clean inside, 
and after the body had been deposited within it was covered with 
logs, then several layers of cypress bark, and made level with the 
floor of the house. Beds were often made above the graves. (Adair, 
(l),p. 181.) 

It is of great interest to be able to trace this unusual custom of in- 
terring the dead beneath the floor of the house back to prehistoric 
times, and that within the region occupied by the same tribe. In 
Wilson County, Tennessee, was discovered the site of an ancient 
village. Surrounded by an inclosure were several mounds and about 
100 earth circles with diameters varying from 10 to 50 feet. Each 
such ring represented the ruined site of a separate house of a form 
known to have been erected by certain tribes in the lower Mississippi 
Valley. Nineteen of the so-called hut rings were examined and bits 
of pottery, stone implements, some broken and others entire, and 
other traces of Indian occupancy were discovered. " On removing 
the hardened and burnt earth forming the floors of the houses, and at 
a depth of from 1J to 3 feet, small stone graves were found in 11 of 
the 19 circles that were carefully examined. These graves were in 
every case those of children, and were from 1 ft. to 4 ft. in length. 
These children's graves were found at one side of the centre of the 
house, and generally, it was noticed, that a fire had been built over 
the spot." (Putnam, (1), pp. 339-360.) Whether all the burials 
encountered on this site were really those of children may be ques- 
tioned, but nevertheless the custom of burying beneath the floors of 
the houses conforms with the known habit of the Chickasaw, as 
already told. Undoubtedly many other similar discoveries may be 
made at some future time. 

Adair also described the customs of the Chickasaw when any of 
their number died away from home. " When any of them die at a 
distance, if the company be not driven and pursued by an enemy, 



bushnell] NATIVE CEMETERIES AND FORMS OF BURIAL 



107 



they place the corpse on a scaffold, covered with notched logs to secure 
it from being torn by wild beasts, or fowls of prey; when they 
imagine the flesh is consumed, and the bones are thoroughly dried, 
they return to the place, bring them home, and inter them in a very 
solemn manner. . . . The Indians use the same ceremonies to the 
bones of their dead, as if they were covered with their former skin, 
flesh, and ligaments. It is but a few days since I saw some return 
with the bones of nine of their people, who had been two months 
before killed by the enemy. They were tied in white deerskins, 
separately; and when carried by the door of one of the houses of 
their family, they were laid down opposite to it, till the female rela- 
tions convened, with flowing hair, and wept over them about half 
an hour. Then they carried them home to their friendly magazines 
of mortality, wept over them again, and then buried them with the 
usual solemnities; putting their valuable effects, and as I am in- 
formed, other convenient things in along with them." (Adair, (1), 
pp. 180-181.) 

When the Spanish expedition led by De Soto crossed the southern 
country during the years 1539-1541, the Chickasaw were evidently 
living in the vicinity of the present Union and Pontotoc Counties, in 
the northern part of the State of Mississippi, a region they continued 
to occupy for many generations. Traces of an inclosure surrounding 
a group of mounds is standing in the southern part of Union County, 
and may not be very ancient, as objects of European origin have 
been recovered from several of the mounds. Small pits were discov- 
ered beneath certain mounds of the group, as in " Mound 8 . . . 
Six feet north of the center, in the original soil, was a hole 18 inches 
across and 14 inches deep, the sides burnt hard as brick, filled with 
charcoal and dirt. Seven feet northeast of the center was a similar 
but smaller hole. The gray layer at the bottom was undisturbed over 
both these spots, showing that the mound was built after this part of 
the field had been occupied.*' (Thomas, (1), pp. 276-277.) 

This makes it quite evident the mounds were erected on an old 
village site. A trench was cut through a section of another mound 
of the group, that designated as No. 1, and was carried "down to 
underlying red clay which was so hard as to be difficult to loosen with 
a pick. In this clay two holes had been dug 6 feet apart, one north 
of the other. Each was a foot across and 3 feet deep, rounded at the 
bottom, and filled with a shiny gray ooze. In the one to the south 
was found a piece of skull bone, in the northern one nothing but the 
soft mud or slime. Fourteen feet from the center were two similar 
holes, one 14 inches across and 3 feet deep, the other 3 feet south of 
it of the same depth and 18 inches across. ... No traces of bones 
were found in these." (Op. cit., p. 271.) 



108 



BUREAU OF AMERICAN ETHNOLOGY 



[bull. 71 



As these mounds were erected on the site of a more ancient settle- 
ment, it is possible the pits were graves made by the early Chickasaw 
beneath the floors of their dwellings, and during the many years that 
have intervened since the habitations were occupied the bones have 
disappeared, with only a fragment of a skull remaining. 

The Chakchiuma, related linguistically to the Chickasaw and Choc- 
taw, lived on the upper Yazoo River, and lower down the stream, 
near its junction with the Mississippi, were the villages of the Tuni- 
can group, including the Koroa, Yazoo, and the Tunica proper. The 
burial customs of the people then living in the valley of the Yazoo 
were undoubtedly quite similar, although the inhabitants of the scat- 
tered towns belonged to different stocks. And when referring to 
"the Yazoux and the Chacchoumas" (i. e., the Yazoo and Chak- 
chiuma), Dumont wrote : " When their chief is dead they go into the 
woods to bury him, just as in the case of an ordinary man, some on 
one side, some on the other, the relatives of the deceased accompany- 
ing the convoy and bearing in their hands a pine stick lighted like a 
torch. When the body is. in the trench all those taking part throw 
their lighted torches into it in the same way, after which it is cov- 
ered with earth. That is what the entire ceremony is confined to. 
It is true that it continues more than six months longer for the rela- 
tions of the dead and for his friends, who during all that time go 
almost every night to utter howls over the grave, and on account of 
the difference in their cries and voices form a regular charivari. 
These ceremonies, as I have said, are common to the chiefs and people. 
The only difference which marks the first is that at their head is 
planted a post on which is cut with the point of a knife the figures 
they have worn painted on their body during life." (Dumont, (1), 
I, pp. 246-247.) 

The Tunica, although forming a distinct linguistic family from 
the Muskhogean tribes with whom they were so closely associated, 
and practically surrounded, were few in number, but they may, at 
some earlier time, have been a more numerous and powerful people. 

To quote Swanton: "Although affected by Christian beliefs, the 
mortuary ceremonies observed by the Tunica until recent times were 
evidently directly descended from older customs. 

"The only specific reference by an early writer to the mortuary 
customs of this tribe is by La Source, who says: 'They inter their 
dead, and the relations come to weep with those of the house, and 
in the evening they weep over the grave of the departed and make 
a fire there and pass their hands over it, crying out and weeping.' 
(Shea, (1), p. 81.) 

"Accounts of the modern ceremonies were obtained from different 
sources by Doctor Gatschet and the writer, and the following is 
an attempt to weave them together : 



bushnell] NATIVE CEMETERIES AND FORMS OF BURIAL 109 

"The body of a dead person was kept for one day and then in- 
terred, many persons making speeches on the occasion. The corpse 
was laid with its head toward the east, which the Tunica chief told 
the writer was simply 'their way of burying,' the reason having 
evidently been forgotten. For four successive nights thereafter a 
fire was lighted at the head, as Gatschet's informant explained, to 
keep away the bad spirits who sat in that direction for the same 
period. During that time the people watched the grave and fasted, 
and on the morning of the day after the fourth, just before day- 
break, all, both old and young, went to plunge four times in water. 
By that time the soul was satisfied and had ■ gone up.' Then all re- 
assembled in the house from which the burial had taken place and 
breakfasted together, eating white dumplings and the fresh meat of 
large geese. Then the principal speaker delivered an address, after 
which he made all put on mourning, he himself and the other near 
relations wearing it for six months and the father and mother of the 
deceased for one year. A mourning garb is thought not to have 
been known before the people ' learned how to pray ;' i. e. before 
Christianity was introduced, which seems probable. During their 
days of mourning people did not eat or drink until noon. 

" Cemeteries were placed on hills in the open country, and because 
spirits were believed to dwell around them the protection of each 
cemetery was intrusted to one man. Each new year the guardian 
said to all those who had ripe corn : ' Ripe corn must be thrown on 
the cemetery ! Eipe beans must be thrown on the cemetery ! ' Then 
all went to work to collect their corn and beans and place them 
there. This took three or sometimes four days, and at the same 
time, evidently in later years, they cut the cemetery grass. These 
last statements are according to Gatschet's informant. The Tunica 
chief only stated that a second fast, called the ' corn fast ' (fete du 
hie), took place for the benefit of the dead at the time when little 
corn had just become good to eat. The ears were roasted close to 
the fire and then placed in a saucer at the head of the grave. Before 
this time a 'sign,' which in later times was probably a cross, had 
been made by a particular person who always performed this office 
and placed at the grave. The offering of corn was also made for 
four days. . On the last of these the people fasted until noon and 
assembled at the house of the cemetery guardian. Then they 
plunged into water four times, also for the dead, and after a speech 
from the guardian, he gave them all a dinner by way of payment. 
In later times this ended the fast, but anciently the dinner was 
followed by a dance." (Swanton, (1), pp. 324-326.) 

Other Miiskhogean tribes may now be mentioned. 



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[bull. 71 



THE CREEKS 

The Creeks had customs resembling those of the Chickasaw, and, 
in some instances, deposited the remains of their dead beneath the 
floors of their habitations. To quote from Bartram : 

" The Muscogulges bury their deceased in the earth. They dig a 
four-square deep pit under the cabin or couch which the deceased 
lay on, in his house, lining the grave with Cypress bark, where they 
place the corpse in a sitting posture, as if it were alive ; depositing 
with him his gun, tomahawk, pipe, and such other matters as he had 
the greatest value for in his life time." (Bartram, (1) , pp. 513-514.) 

And when Romans referred to the same people, he said: "The 
dead are buried in a sitting posture, and they are furnished with a 
musket, powder and ball, a hatchet, pipe, some tobacco, a club, a bow 
and arrows, a looking glass, some vermillion and other trinkets, in 
order to come well provided in the land of spirits." (Romans, (1), 
pp. 98-99.) 

Another traveler a few years later, in 1791, left a brief account of 
the customs of the Creeks, and said in part : " Upon the Decease of 
an Adult of either Sex, the Friends and Relations of the Decedent 
religiously collect whatever he or she held most dear in Life, and 
inter them close by and sometimes in their Owner's Grave. This 
pious Tribute to their Dead includes Horses, Cows, Hogs, and Dogs, 
as well as Things inanimate." (Pope, (1), p. 58.) And the same 
writer mentioned the Creek's belief in ghosts, which tends to recall 
the somewhat similar belief prevalent among the Choctaw. He told 
how " The Creeks in approaching the Frontiers of Georgia, always 
encamp on the right Hand side of the Road or Path, assigning the 
left, as ominous, to the Larvae or Ghosts of their departed Heroes 
who have either unfortunately lost their Scalps, or remain unburied. 
The Ghost of any Hero in either Predicament, is refused Admittance 
into the Mansions of Bliss, and sentenced to take up its invisible and 
darksom Abode, in the dreary Caverns of the Wilderness; until the 
Indignity shall be retaliated on the Enemy, by some of his surviving 
Friends." (Pp. 63-64.) 

About the time of the preparation of the preceding account an 
even more interesting record was made by an officer in the army, 
Maj. C. Swan, who visited the Creek nation during the autumn of 
1790, and returned to Philadelphia March 13, 1791. After referring 
to various customs of the people with whom he had been he said : 

" When one of a family dies, the relations bury the corpse about 
four feet deep, in a round hole dug directly under the cabin or rock 
whereon he died. The corpse is placed in the hole in a sitting pos- 
ture, with a blanket wrapped about it, and the legs bent under it and 
tied together. If a warrior, he is painted, and his pipe, ornaments, 



bushnellI NATIVE CEMETERIES AND FORMS OF BURIAL 



111 



and warlike appendages are deposited with him. The grave is then 
covered with canes tied to a hoop round the top of the hole, and 
then a firm layer of clay, sufficient to support the weight of a man. 
The relations howl loudly and mourn publicly for four days. If the 
deceased has been a man of eminent character, the family immedi- 
ately remove from the house in which he is buried, and erect a new 
one, with a belief that where the bones of their dead are deposited, 
the place is always attended by ' goblins and chimeras dire.' They 
believe there is a state of future existence, and that according to the 
tenor of their lives they shall hereafter be rewarded with the privi- 
lege of hunting in the realms of the Master of Breath, or of becoming 
Seminolies [i. e. wanderers] in the regions of the old sorcerer. But 
as it is very difficult for them to draw any parallel between virtue 
and vice, they are most of them flattered with the expectation of 
hereafter becoming great war-leaders, or swift hunters in the beloved 
country of the great Hesakadum Esse." (Schoolcraft, (2), V, p. 
270.) 

Several mounds of the greatest interest have been discovered in 
the territory which was formerly the home of Muskhogean tribes, 
and from their nature it is evident they were constructed long after 
the coming of the Spaniards. One stood about one-quarter mile 
from the left bank of Alabama River, 6 miles below the city of Mont- 
gomery, in Montgomery County, Alabama. This was in the midst 
of the Greek towns. The mound was 9 feet in height, with a diameter 
of 67 feet. Objects of iron, of glass, and other materials, all derived 
from the whites, were encountered throughout the work, from the 
summit to the base, , which proves the entire work to have been 
erected after the advent of Europeans. And, in addition to these 
objects of foreign make, were associated others of stone, shell, and 
earthenware of aboriginal workmanship. This was one of the most 
remarkable of the many mounds examined by Moore throughout the 
South. Two others far south of the preceding, also discovered by 
Moore, may be mentioned. Of these the first was situated about 200 
yards north of Alligator Harbor and 1 mile from its lower end, in 
Franklin County, Florida. When examined, 79 burials were dis- 
covered, among them the flexed; the bunched, which sometimes in- 
cluded several skulls together; and bones scattered. All the burials 
were in the southeastern half of the mound, and in the same section 
were encountered 62 pottery vessels and various objects of stone and 
shell. The lack of European objects in this mound makes it appear 
to be quite ancient, but in the adjoining county of Calhoun, on the 
northern bank of Chipola cut-off, stood a mound which had un- 
doubtedly been reared at a much later time, as glass beads and pieces 
of brass, found at the base of the work, indicate the entire tumulus 



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LliULL. 71 



to have been reared since the first part of the sixteenth century. 
Forty-two burials were encountered scattered throughout the mound, 
and these included flexed skeletons, bundles of bones, and separate 
skulls, the latter not in contact with other bones. Now, it is more 
than probable that both mounds just mentioned were erected by the 
same people, one before, the other after, contact with the whites. 
The forms of burials in both were similar, characteristic of the 
region, and resembling those revealed in mounds farther south on the 
peninsula. The mounds in Franklin and Calhoun Counties were 
probably erected by a Muskhogean tribe, whose identity has not been 
determined, who may have had customs resembling those of the ' 
Choctaw. The bundles of bones had probably been gathered from the 
" bonehouses " after all flesh had disappeared, then wrapped or put 
in baskets, and so deposited and covered with a mass of earth, thus 
forming the mound. In some instances the bones were put in large 
earthenware vessels which, by reason of their imperishable nature, are 
now found containing the remains, but there is no reason to attribute 
any special meaning to these so-called urn burials. This merely 
proves that large vessels were sometimes used to hold the remains 
when prepared for the last disposition, rather than baskets, bags, 
skins, or some such material, which soon decayed and disappeared, 
allowing the bones to become as, now found — matted and massed 
in the earth, broken and compressed by the weight of the super- 
stratum. And it is highly probable that as these burial mounds are 
now found they may represent not more than one-half of their origi- 
nal height. The baskets in which the bones had been buried 
crumbled away, the remains sunk and became more compact, and 
gradually the entire accumulation of bones and earth, baskets, mats, 
and vessels became a comparatively solid but confused mass. All ma- 
terials of a perishable nature soon disappeared, allowing some of the 
firmer bones to remain, together with vessels of earthenware and 
objects of stone, now to be discovered embedded in the sand or clay 
with which they were originally covered. 

The islands lying off the coast of Georgia appear to have been the 
home of a Muskhogean tribe, the Guale, at the time this part of the 
country was first visited by the Spaniards during the early part of 
the sixteenth century. And the many burial mounds standing on the 
islands and near-by mainland may have been erected by these people. 
Many of the mounds have been examined and have revealed several 
forms, or rather methods, of disposing of the dead. One such burial 
place, a mound of exceptional interest, was near the bank of the 
Sapelo River, about 2 miles from Sutherland Bluff, in the present 
Mcintosh County, Georgia. When examined it was about 6 feet in 
height and 46 feet in diameter. It " was composed of rich, loamy, 



bdshnell] NATIVE CEMETERIES AND EORMS OF BURIAL 



113 



brown sand with many local layers of oyster shells. The usual char- 
coal and fireplaces were present. A black layer from three inches to 
one foot in thickness, made up of sand mingled with charcoal in 
minute particles, ran through the mound at about the level of the 
surrounding territory." Human remains were discovered at 36 
points, and " in no one mound investigated by us has there been so 
well exemplified the various forms of aboriginal disposition of the 
dead — the burial in anatomical order; the burial of portions of the 
skeletons ; the interment of great masses of human bones ; the pyre ; 
the loose deposit of incinerated remains ; the burial of cinerary urns." 
(Moore, (1), p. 45.) 

Probably few mounds yet found have revealed such a great variety 
of forms of burial as did this low, spreading work on the bank of the 
Sapelo. And this discovery also proves conclusively that one tribe 
followed at the same time many methods of disposing of their dead. 

A short distance northward from the preceding, on Ossabaw 
Island, in Bryan County, Georgia, was a similar low, spreading 
mound. And when excavated it likewise proved to be of great inter- 
est. " In no part of the mound, outside of the calcined remains, 
among which were parts of adult skeletons seemingly belonging to 
males, were skeletal remains of adult males — the skeletons being ex- 
clusively those of women, adolescents, children, and infants — and 
that in one portion of the mound burial vases exclusively contained 
skeletons of infants, unaffected by fire, while in other portions 
cinerary urns were present filled with fragments of calcined human 
skeletons. Again we see pockets of calcined human remains and 
skeletal remains of women and children unaffected by fire and not 
included in vessels of earthenware." (Moore, (1), p. 89.) 

The most remarkable feature of this discovery was the lack of male 
skeletons in the body of the mound ; in other words, the exclusion of 
males from this particular tomb. This fact tends to verify to some 
extent a statement made by Oviedo, who observed the burial customs 
of the inhabitants of this coast early in the sixteenth century. He 
mentioned the custom then followed by the people of placing the re- 
mains of the children and young persons apart from the others, and 
continued by saying the principal men of the tribe were buried in a 
distinct group. He failed to mention the disposition of the remains 
of the women, but they may have been placed with those of the chil- 
dren and younger members of the tribe. (Oviedo, (1), III, p. 630.) 
Thus the discovery and careful examination of this low mound on 
Ossabaw Island has tended to verify an observation made some four 
centuries ago. 

It is possible within this same region to trace another custom from 
historic back into prehistoric times, and whenever this may be done it 
130548°— 20 8 



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BUREAU OF AMERICAN ETHNOLOGY 



[BULL. 71 



tends to make more clear the customs of the inhabitants of ancient 
America at the time of the coming of Europeans. 

About the year 1730 a small group of Creeks, together with a few 
Yamasee, all belonging to the same linguistic family, settled on the 
south or right bank of the Savannah, at a place now known as Yama- 
craAv Bluff, within the limits of the present city of Savannah. Their 
chief was the famous Tomochichi, who, together with others, later 
accompanied Gov. Oglethrope to England. While there, during the 
year 1734, a member of the party died, and " previous to interment 
in the church-yard of St. John's, Westminster, the body was sewn 
up in a blanket and bound between two boards." (Jones, C. C, (1), 
pp. 185-187.) It was placed in a grave together with many orna- 
ments and other objects. Moore drew attention to the occurrence 
when describing burials encountered by him in a mound on Creigh- 
ton Island, Mcintosh County, Georgia, only a short distance south of 
Savannah, and consequently not far from the former village on 
Yamacraw Bluff. He remarked on the discovery of traces of wood 
associated with the skeletal remains, and said in part : " In seven 
cases layers of decayed wood or bark, occasionally showing marks of 
fire, lay above human remains, and in two cases, above and below." 
(Moore, (1), p. 30.) There is little doubt of these mound burials 
having been similar, in all essential details, to that of the Indian who 
died in London in 1734. And although it is not possible to determine 
the exact age of the mound on Creighton Island, nevertheless it is 
reasonable to attribute it to a period after the coming of the Span- 
iards to the coast of Florida. It is interesting to know that a small 
' mound which stood in Chatham County, Georgia, not far from the 
preceding, when examined revealed a human skeleton resting upon 
the original surface, and associated with it was a sword of European 
origin. 

THE SEMINOLE 

The Seminole, the immigrants from the Creek towns who settled 
in Florida during the eighteenth century, were little influenced by 
the whites until very recent years. Living as they did in the midst 
of the great swamps of the southern part of the peninsula, with no 
roads penetrating the tangle of semitropical vegetation, and with 
even the location of their settlements unknown to the occupants of 
other parts of Florida, they were never visited, and seldom seen ex- 
cept when they chose to make journeys to the traders near the coast. 
Consequently the burial customs of the people, as witnessed 40 years 
ago, were probably little different from those practiced during the 
past generations. The account written at that time referred par- 
ticularly to the death and burial of a child : 

" The preparation for burial began as soon as death had taken 
place. The body was clad in a new shirt, a new handkerchief being 



bushnell] 



NATIVE CEMETERIES AND FORMS OF BURIAL 



115 



tied about the neck and another around the head. A spot of red 
paint was placed on the right cheek and one of black upon the left. 
The body was laid face upwards. In the left hand, together with a 
bit of burnt wood, a small bow about twelve inches in length was 
placed, the hand lying naturally over the middle of the body. 
Across the bow, held by the right hand, was laid an arrow, slightly 
drawn. During these preparations, the women loudly lamented, 
with hair disheveled. At the same time some men had selected a 
place for the burial and made the grave in this manner: Two pal- 
metto logs of proper size were split. The four pieces were firmly 
placed on edge, in the shape of an oblong box, lengthwise east and 




Fig. 14. — Carrying the dead, among the Seminole. 



west. In this box a floor was laid, and over this a blanket was 
spread. Two men, at next sunrise, carried the body from the camp 
to the place of burial, the body being suspended at feet, thighs, back, 
and neck from a long pole [fig. 14]. The relatives followed. In 
the grave, which is called 1 To-hop-ki ' — a word used by the Seminole 
for ' stockade,' or £ fort,' also, the body was then laid the feet to the 
east. A blanket was then carefully wrapped around the body. 
Over this palmetto leaves were placed and the grave was tightly 
closed by a covering of logs. Above the box a roof was then built. 
Sticks in the form of an X, were driven into the earth across the 
overlying logs; these were connected by a pole, and this structure 
was covered thickly with palmetto leaves. [PI. 13, a.~\ 

" The bearers of the body then made a large .fire at each end of the 
'To-hop-ki.' With this the ceremony at the grave ended and all 



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BUREAU OF AMERICAN ETHNOLOGY 



[BULL. 71 



returned to the camp. During that day and for three days there- 
after the relatives remained at home and refrained from work. The 
fires at the grave were renewed at sunset by those who had made 
them, and after nightfall torches were waved in the air, that ' the 
bad birds of the night' might not get at the Indian lying in his 
grave. The renewal of the fires and waving of the torches were 
repeated three days. The fourth day the fires were allowed to die 
out. Throughout the camp 6 medicine ' had been sprinkled at sunset 
for three days. On the fourth day it was said that the Indian ' had 
gone.' From that time the mourning ceased and the members of the 
family returned to their usual occupations. 

" The interpretation of the ceremonies just mentioned, as given me, 
is this: The Indian was laid in the grave to remain there, it was 
believed, only until the fourth day. The fires at head and feet, as 
well as the waving of the torches, were to guard him from the ap- 
proach of ' evil birds ' who would harm him. His feet were placed 
toward the east, that when he arose to go to the skies he might go 
straight to the sky path, which commenced at the place of the sun's 
rising; that were he laid with the feet in any other direction he 
would not know when he rose what path to take and he would be 
lost in the darkness. He had with him his bow and arrow, that he 
might procure food on his way. The piece of burnt wood in his 
hand was to protect him from the 'bad birds' while he was on his 
skyward journey. These 'evil birds' are called Ta-lak-i-clak-o. 
The last rite paid to the Seminole dead is at the end of four moons. 
At that time the relatives go to the To-hop-ki and cut from around it 
the overgrowing grass. A widow lives with disheveled hair for the 
first twelve moons of her widowhood." (MacCauley, (1), pp. 520- 
522.) 

Another form of Seminole burial has been mentioned, but it 
could not have been followed to any great extent. " The Seminoles 
of Florida are said to have buried in hollow trees, the bodies being 
placed in an upright position, occasionally the dead being crammed 
into a hollow log lying on the ground." (Yarrow, (1) , p. 138.) The 
writer failed to give his authority for the statement. 

TIMUCUAN TRIBES 

Long before the Seminole reached central Florida the peninsula 
had been the home of other native tribes who have left many mounds 
and other works to indicate the positions of their villages. The 
northern half of the peninsula, from the Ocilla Eiver on the north 
to the vicinity of Tampa Bay on the south, and thence across to about 
Cape Canaveral on the Atlantic coast, was, when first visited by the 
Spaniards, the home of tribes belonging to the Timucuan family, of 
whom very little is known. They were encountered near the site of 



bushnbll] NATIVE CEMETERIES AND FORMS OE BURIAL 117 

the present city of St. Augustine by Ponce de Leon in 1513, on the 
west coast by Narvaez in 1528, and in the same region by De Soto 
11 years later. The southern half of the peninsula, especially along 
the Gulf coast, was also occupied by many villages, but even less is 
known of the inhabitants, nor is it definitely known to what linguistic 
family they belonged, although they may have been Muskhogean. 

Much of interest regarding the burial customs of the ancient peo- 
ple who occupied this region at the time of the coming of Europeans 
has been learned as a result of the careful examination of many 
mounds, both on the east and west coast. Moore has examined many 
mounds on the west coast between Tampa Bay and the mouth of the 
Ocilla, and has discovered innumerable burials contained in them. 
Various forms are represented, with a large proportion closely flexed, 
and in other instances only skulls without any other bones in con- 
tact. But of all the works examined in this region the most inter- 
esting stood near Tarpon Springs, near the Gulf shore, in the far 
northwestern corner of Hillsboro County. This is the county in 
which Tampa is located. The mound was thoroughly explored and 
" the remains of more than six hundred skeletons " were encountered. 
" These, with notable exception — probably those of chiefs and head 
men — had been dismembered previously to interment, but were dis- 
tributed in distinct groups that I regarded as communal or totemic 
and phratral, and of exceeding interest ; for they seemed to indicate 
that the tiurial mound had been regarded by its builders as a tribal 
settlement, a sort of 'Little City of their Dead,' and that if so, it 
might be looked on as still, in a measure, representing the distribu- 
tion and relation of the clans and phratries in an actual village or 
tribal settlement of these people when living. Moreover, in the 
minor disposition of the skeletons that had not been scattered, but 
had been buried in parks, or else entire and extended, in sherd-lined 
graves or wooden cists within and around each of these groups, it 
seemed possible to still trace somewhat of the relative ranks of indi- 
viduals in these groups, and not a few of the social customs and re- 
ligious beliefs of the ancient builders. This possibility was still fur- 
ther borne out by the fact that with the skeletal remains were asso- 
ciated, in different ways, many superb examples of pottery and sac- 
rificial potsherds, and numerous stone, shell and bone utensils, 
weapons, and ornaments." (Cushing, (1), pp. 24—26.) 

This interesting and plausible conclusion reached by Cushing re- 
garding the placing of the dead belonging to the different totemic 
groups in distinct graves, or rather in distinct parts of the great 
burial mound, tends to recall Adair's description of the " bone- 
houses " of the Choctaw. He said " each house contained the bones 
of one tribe, separately." This must have referred to the clans and 



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BUREAU OF AMERICAN ETHNOLOGY 



[bull. 71 



phratries, and if such a distinction was made when the bodies were 
first placed in the " bone-Kouses," it is more than probable the same 
rule was followed when they were finally removed from them, then 
carried, and with certain ceremony placed on the surface and cov- 
ered with earth. This may be the explanation of many groups of 
bundled burials encountered in mounds in the South, and again this 
would tend to prove some connection between the builders of the 
mound in question and the Muskhogean tribe, s the Choctaw. The 
mound just mentioned, although larger than the majority, may be 
considered typical of the region. 

The mounds on the east coast, or more correctly in the eastern 
portion of the peninsula, were somewhat different from those to the 
westward, and probably the burial customs were likewise different. 
Drawings made by the French artist Jacobo Le Moyne, who visited 
the east coast in the year 1564, were reproduced by De Bry in the 
second part of his famous collection of voyages, printed in 1591. 
One of the engravings, representing a burial ceremony in one of the 
Timucuan villages, is reproduced in plate 13, b. The description of 
the plate as given in the old work reads: "When a chief in that 
province dies, he is buried with great solemnities, his drinking-cup 
is placed on the grave, and many arrows are planted in the earth 
about the mound itself. His subjects mourn for him three whole 
days and nights, without taking any food. All the other chiefs, his 
friends, mourn in like manner; and both men and women, in testi- 
mony of their love for him, cut off more than half their hair. Be- 
sides this, for six months afterwards certain chosen women three 
times every day, at dawn, noon, and twilight, mourn for the de- 
ceased king with a great howling. And all his household stuff is put 
into his house, which is set on fire, and the whole burned up together. 
In like manner, when their priests die, they are buried in their own 
houses; which are then set on fire, and burned up with their fur- 
niture." (Le Moyne, (1).) 

It will be noticed that in the drawing the house, evidently that 
of the deceased, is shown wrapped in flames, thus conforming with 
the description. The custom of destining the houses in which 
death had occurred was also followed by the Natchez, the Taensa, 
and probably others. The Creeks are known to have abandoned 
their habitations after the death of one of the occupants, and may 
under some conditions have burned the structure; in other instances 
they continued to occupy the house after having interred the re- 
mains beneath the floor. 

The village drawn by the French artist in 1564 probably stood in 
the present Duval County, Florida, a region in which many very 
interesting burial mounds have been discovered and examined. Many 



BUSHNELL] 



NATIVE CEMETERIES AND FORMS OF BURIAL 



119 



of the mounds appear to have been erected over an area previously 
excavated, a detail lacking in the old drawing, which, however, 
should not be accepted as being very accurate. But the scene de- 
picted may be the very beginning of the erection of such a structure. 
This may show the nucleus of such a work, prepared soon after 
the death of a great man whose tomb was later to be reared. But 
in regard to this most interesting question nothing can now be 
stated with any degree of certainty. 

Moore has given a very graphic description of the construction 
of a mound examined by him which stood in Duval County, Florida, 
not far from the banks of the St. Johns. Its diameters were 63 
feet and 58 feet, and its height, then greatly reduced by cultivation, 
was only 2 feet 2 inches. He wrote : " It was evident that the mound 
had been constructed in the following manner. First, a fire was 
built on the surface, possibly to destroy the underbrush. Next, a 
pit of the area of the intended mound was dug to a depth of about 
3 feet. In a central portion of this pit was made a deposit of 
human remains with certain artifacts. . . . Then the pit was 
filled with the sand previously thrown out, through which was plen- 
tifully mingled charcoal from the surface fire. During the process 
of filling, various relics but no human remains, were deposited, and 
covered by the sand. When the pit was filled to the general level, 
a great fire was made over its entire area as was evidenced by a well- 
marked stratum of sand discolored by fire and containing particles 
of charcoal, extending entirely through the mound at the level of 
the surrounding territory. Upon this the mound proper was con- 
structed and various bunched burials and art relics introduced. 

" In all human remains were encountered eleven times, once at the 
base of the pit, the remainder in the body of the mound. The burials 
were of the bunched variety, but small portions remaining." (Moore, 
(6), pp. 27-29.) 

Objects of shell, stone, pottery, and copper were recovered from 
the mound, which was entirely destroyed. Traces of great fires 
are characterstic of many mounds along the St. Johns, but whether 
they were supposed to have served some practical purpose, or were 
ceremonial, can not be told. 

The mounds of this part of Florida often present some very in- 
teresting features. One of evidently quite recent origin was discov- 
ered about one-half mile north of Bayard Point, which is on the left 
bank of the St. Johns nearly opposite Picolata, in Clay County. Its 
height was about 4 feet 9 inches, diameter 45 feet. It was formed of 
unstratified whitish sand, with occasional pockets of charcoal. Asso- 
ciated with the several burials were objects of European origin. 
" Somewhat south of the centre of the mound was a male skeleton 



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[BULL. 71 



at length, placed with the head northwest. At one side of the re- 
mains was a flint-lock gun, in reverse position with muzzle toward 
the feet. And nearby were traces of a bone handled awl, and prob- 
ably a powder horn partly decorated with brass-headed nails, also a 
flint and steel, undoubtedly used in striking fire. Scattered in the 
mound, but not in direct contact with the human remains, were some 
fragments of pottery." Moore also found where other mounds had 
served the later inhabitants as burial places, intrusive burials often 
having many objects of foreign origin in contact. Some of these 
may be attributed to the Seminole of the past 150 years. 

Midway across the peninsula, in the present Lake County, and 
within the Timucuan territory, have been encountered many mounds, 
shell deposits, and other signs of the occupancy of the country by a 
comparatively large native population. Some of the works were 
quite remarkable. One mound which stood about 200 yards from 
the right bank of Blue Creek was practically destroyed : " Its height 
was 5 feet 6 inches, its circumference 165 feet. . . . About one 
foot beneath the surface of the mound, which was otherwise com- 
posed of white sand of the surrounding territory, ran a layer of 
pinkish sand, having a maximum thickness of eighteen inches. 
. . . Chemical analysis showed the coloring matter to be pulver- 
ized hematite." Burials were encountered only beneath the unbroken 
stratum of pink sand. " They were mainly on or below the base 
and were all disconnected bones, crania greatly preponderating." 

About 2 miles distant from the preceding was another mound of 
equal interest, and likewise presenting several curious features. 
Examining this, "thirty crania were met with. ... At times 
bundles of long bones were found without the skull, while in other 
portions of the mound fragments of isolated crania were en- 
countered. At times great bunches of long bones were found with 
two or three crania in association. . . . Most skeletons lay 
near or upon the base." 

No extended, complete skeletons were encountered in this mound, 
but it is evident that here, as elsewhere, the later burials were made 
more after the customs of the whites. It is likewise of interest to 
know positively that mounds were reared after the coming of Eu- 
ropeans. Such a work was examined and described by Moore. It 
stood about 1 mile northwest of Fort Mason, just north of Lake 
Yale. When examined it was 50 feet in diameter but only 2 feet 
in height, having been reduced by cultivation. " Unlike other 
mounds demolished by us on the Oklawaha, the method of burial 
in this mound was in anatomical order, in various forms of flexion. 
In all fifteen skeletons were encountered." Objects of iron, silver, 
and copper were associated with them, being of European origin; 
and in addition to these pieces of foreign work three skeletons had 



bdshnell] NATIVE CEMETERIES AND FORMS OF BURIAL 121 

each one polished stone celt near by. Stone arrowheads were also 
found in the mound, the whole of which had been erected after con- 
tact with Europeans. The mound probably belongs to the transition 
period, before native implements and weapons had been entirely 
superseded by others of European make, but while they were still 
retained and used. And although this mound was not far from the 
site of a late village of the Seminole, it would seem that it belonged 
to a somewhat earlier period, as it is doubtful if these late comers 
would have had, and evidently used, implements of stone. (The 
preceding references to mounds in Lake County, are quoted from 
Moore, (6).) 

It is difficult, if not impossible, to distinguish between the differ- 
ent burials now found in central Florida. Many are unquestion- 
ably quite ancient, dating from some generations before the coming 
of the Spaniards ; others are comparatively recent. The older forms 
may be Timucuan or even of the people who may have traversed 
this section when going farther southward; possibly some very old 
Muskhogean tribe. But no human remains yet found in Florida, or 
elsewhere east of the Mississippi, can justly be attributed to a people 
more ancient than the native American tribes, as now known and 
recognized. 

Another interesting detail was noted by Moore in a mound on 
the bank of the St. Johns, in St. Johns County, about 3 miles north 
of Picolata. The mound was about 6 feet 6 inches in height and 
64 feet in diameter. On the original surface, covering the center 
of the base of the mound, " was a flooring of split plank in the last 
stages of decay, about 13 feet square. Its thickness was 2 inches." 
This was red cedar. Within the work were discovered 34 separate 
bundles of bones, but no entire skeletons. This discovery was made 
in 1894. For the sake of comparison, to show the similarity of cus- 
toms in widely separated parts of the country, but by people in no 
way connected with one another, a reference may be made to a dis- 
covery made in a mound far north in Ohio. The mound referred 
to stood "upon the broad and beautiful terrace on which Chilli- 
cothe stands, about 1 mile to the north of that town," in Eoss 
County. It was about 15 feet in height and TO feet in diameter. 
The work was excavated, but nothing was encountered until the 
human skeleton, at the base of the mound, was reached. "The 
course of preparation for the burial seemed to have been as follows : 
The surface of the ground was first carefully leveled and packed, 
over an area perhaps ten or fifteen feet square. This area was then 
covered with sheets of bark, on which, in the center, the body of 
the dead was deposited, with a few articles of stone at its side, and 
a few small ornaments near the head. It was then covered over 



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[BULL. 71 



with another layer of bark, and the mound heaped above." (Squier 
and Davis, (1), p. 164.) 

The latter burial also closely resembled those discovered in a 
mound on Creighton Island, Mcintosh County, Georgia, although 
there the deposits of bark or wood were only of sufficient size to 
cover a single skeleton. But a great many burials within mounds 
may originally have been so protected by slabs of wood, or sheets 
of bark, all traces of which have long ago decayed and disappeared. 

SIOUAN GROUPS 

The piedmont region of Virginia, and southward, was claimed and 
occupied by tribes belonging to the Siouan linguistic group. Among 
these may be mentioned the Monacan, enemies of the Powhatan tribes 
during the early years of the colony; the Tutelo and Saponi, whose 
lands extended into the northern part of Carolina; and the better 
known Catawba, the most important of the eastern Siouan tribes. 
The Biloxi and Ofo of Mississippi and the Winnebago of Wisconsin 
were likewise members of this stock. And there is reason to suppose 
the upper Ohio Valley was once the home of other Siouan tribes who 
had moved westward, beyond the Mississippi, some years before the 
coming of Europeans. 

THE MONACAN 

During the autumn of the year 1608 a party of the colonists from 
Jamestown, led by Capt. Newport, ascended the James to the Falls, 
the site of the present city of Richmond, and leaving their boats, 
continued westward " into the Land called the Monscane." This 
was the territory of the Monacan, a Siouan people who were ever 
enemies of the Powhatan tribes of the tidewater region, which ex- 
tends eastward from the line of the Falls to the Atlantic. Moving 
westward from the Falls the party discovered the Monacan villages 
of Massinacak and Mowhemenchouch. Although the eastern bound- 
ary of this tribal territory was so clearly defined its western limits 
are not known, but at some time it undoubtedly extended westward 
to the mountains beyond the Jackson Valley. The Rivanna was 
near the center of this region, and at or near the mouth of this 
stream, on the left bank of the James, in the present Fluvanna 
County, Virginia, was one of the most important Monacan towns, 
Rassawck, as indicated on the map prepared by Capt. John Smith. 

An Indian village seldom remained for many years on a given 
spot, its position being shifted back and forth, as certain causes 
made necessary; therefore, it is more than probable that remains 
of an old settlement encountered on the river bank some 3 miles 
above Columbia indicate the site of Rassawck during some period 



bdshnell] NATIVE CEMETERIES AND FORMS OF BURIAL 123 

of its existence. Traces of the town were exposed by the great 
freshet of 1870, and " when the water receded it was found that fully 
four feet of the surface had been removed, revealing not less than 
40 or 50 ' fireplaces ' scattered at intervals, generally 30 to 40 feet 
apart. Lying among the ashes and burned earth, or scattered close 
about, were many burned stones, fragments of pottery, animal bones, 
mostly broken, some of them calcined, arrowheads, great quantities 
of chips and broken arrows, and other indications of a former In- 
dian town. . . . Scattered between the fire beds were the graves, 
readily distinguished by the darker color of the earth. They were 
circular, or nearly so, about 3 feet in diameter, and none of them 
more than 18 or 20 inches deep. One contained the skeletons of a 
woman and a child, one of a man and a woman, a few those of two 
women, but most of them disclosed the remains of only one individ- 
ual in each. . . . More than 25 graves were carefully examined, 
but no relics were found in any of them ; if anything had been buried 
with the bodies, it was of a perishable nature." (Fowke, (1), p. 13.) 

The valley of the James is rich in evidence of the days of Indian 
occupancy, and of the many sites which have been discovered one of 
the most interesting and extensive stood on the bank of the stream 
near Gala, in the present Botetourt County. Many human remains 
have been recovered from the site, and it has been estimated thai 
about 200 skeletons were encountered while constructing the railway 
which traversed the ancient settlement. Some of the bodies had 
been placed extended, others were closely flexed. Many pits were 
discovered, some quite shallow, others several feet in depth, all filled 
with camp refuse, like the great mass by which the site was covered. 
(Fowke, op. cit.) 

There was evidently a great similarity between the two settlements 
just mentioned. It appears that no burial place was set apart away 
from the habitations, but that the graves were made at intervals be- 
tween the fire beds, or the caches which originally served for the 
storage of food supplies. In this southern country the fires were 
probably made outside the dwellings, in which circumstance the 
latter must necessarily have stood between the fire beds. Therefore 
the burials were made either just outside the habitations or, follow- 
ing the custom of the Creeks, which is doubtful, the dead may 
have been placed in graves excavated beneath the floors of the homes 
of the living. However this may have been, the burial customs of 
the occupants of these settlements on the banks of the James differed 
greatly from those of the people who, at one time, lived just north- 
ward, in the valley of the Eivanna. But, as will be shown later, 
there was a great similarity between the appearance of the site at 
Gala, with its numerous pits, and various ancient villages in Ohio. 



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[bull. 71 



To return to the valley of the Rivanna, on the map made by Capt. 
Smith, as already mentioned, Rassawch is indicated, and beyond it 
toward the north is another town, Monmsukapanough, not far from 
a stream evidently intended to represent the Rivanna. The valley 
may have been comparatively thickly peopled during precolonial 
times, as it was well adapted to the wants and requirements of the 
native inhabitants, but before the close of the seventeenth century 
the number had become greatly reduced, and about the year 1730, 
when white settlers entered the region, only a few Indians lived in or 
frequented the present county of Albemarle. In 1735 a grant of 600 
acres of land was made to one Thomas Moorman ; the land laid on the 
right, or south, bank of the Rivanna, and included the " Indian Grave 
low grounds." This is a rich area of many acres, but subject to over- 
flow. It is directly north of the University of Virginia. " Indian 
Grave " referred to a burial mound which stood on the lowland just 
south of the Rivanna. In this connection it is interesting to know 
that the term " Indian grave," often heard in the South, referred to 
a mound, a communal grave or burial, and not to a single grave 
containing the remains of one person. The mound near the bank of 
the Rivanna was examined and described by Jefferson a few years be- 
fore the Revolution. Monticello, the home of Jefferson, was only a 
few miles away to the southeast. Regarding this most interesting 
work Jefferson wrote: 

" It was situated on the low grounds of the Rivanna, about two 
miles above its principal fork, and opposite to some hills, on which 
had been an Indian town. It was of a spheroidical form, of about 
forty feet diameter at the base, and had been of about twelve feet 
altitude, though now reduced by the plough to seven and a half, 
having been under cultivation about a dozen years. Before this it 
was covered with trees of twelve inches diameter, and round the base 
was an excavation of five feet depth and width, from whence the 
earth had been taken of which the hillock was formed. I first dug 
superficially in several parts of it, and came to collections of human 
bones, at different depths, from six inches to three feet below the 
surface. These were lying in the utmost confusion, some vertical, 
some oblique, some horizontal, and directed to every point of the 
compass, entangled, and held together in clusters by the earth. Bones 
of the most distant parts were found together; as, for instance, the 
small bones of the foot in the hollow of a scull, many sculls would 
sometimes be in contact, lying on the face, on the side, on the back, 
top or bottom, so as, on the whole, to give the idea of bones emptied 
promiscuously from a bag or basket, and covered over with earth, 
without any attention to their order. The bones of which the great- 
est numbers remained, were sculls, jaw-bones, teeth, the bones of the 
arms, thighs, legs, feet, and hands. A few ribs remained, some verte- 



bushnell] NATIVE CEMETERIES AND FORMS OF BURIAL 



125 



brae of the neck and spine, without their processes, and one instance 
only of the bone which serves as a base for the vertebral column. 
The sculls were so tender, that they generally fell to pieces on being 
touched. The other bones were stronger. There were some teeth 
which were judged to be smaller than those of an adult; a scull, 
which, on a slight view, appeared to be that of an infant, but it fell 
to pieces on being taken out, so as to prevent satisfactory examina- 
tion; a rib, and a fragment of the under- jaw of a person about half 
grown; another rib of an infant; and part of the jaw of a child, 
which had not yet cut its teeth. This last furnishing the most de- 
cisive proof of the burial of children here, I was particular in my 
attention to it. It was part of the right half of the under jaw. The 
processes, by which it was articulated to the temporal bones, was 
entire ; and the bone itself firm to where it had been broken off, which, 
as nearly as I could judge, was about the place of the eye-tooth. Its 
upper edge, wherein would have been the sockets of the teeth, was 
perfectly smooth. Measuring it with that of an adult, by placing 
their hinder processes together, its broken end extended to the penul- 
timate grinder of the adult. This bone was white, all the others of 
a sand colour. The bones of infants being soft, they probably decay 
sooner, which might be the cause so few were found here. I pro- 
ceeded then to make a perpendicular cut through the body of the 
barrow, that I might examine its internal structure. This passed 
about three feet from its center, was opened to the former surface 
of the earth, and was wide enough for a man to walk through and 
examine its sides. At the bottom, that is, on the level of the circum- 
jacent plain, I found bones; above these a few stones, brought from 
a cliff a quarter of a mile off, and from the river one-eighth of a 
mile off; then a large interval of earth, then a stratum of bones, 
and so on. At one end of the section were four strata of bones 
plainly distinguishable; at the other, three; the strata in one part 
not ranging with those in another. The bones nearest the sur- 
face were least decayed. No holes were discovered in any of them, 
as if made with bullets, arrows, or other weapons. I conjectured 
that in this barrow might have been a thousand skeletons. . . . 
Appearances certainly indicate that it has derived both origin and 
growth from the accustomary collection of bones, and deposition 
of them together ; that the first collection had been deposited on the 
common surface of the earth, a few stones put over it, and then a 
covering of earth, that the second had been laid on this, had covered 
more or less of it in proportion to the number of bones, and was then 
also covered with earth; and so on." (Jefferson, (1), pp. 103-106.) 

From the statement by Jefferson it is evident the mound 
had been greatly reduced by the plow at the time of his ex- 
amination, and the reduction of several feet in height, as indicated, 



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BUREAU OF AMERICAN ETHNOLOGY 



[BULL. 71 



would undoubtedly haA-e removed one or more strata of human 
remains. Such a mass of bodies, or rather parts of bodies, probably 
represented an accumulation during several generations. It must 
have been a place of renown among the ancient inhabitants of the 
valley of the Rivanna, and this may have been the site of the 
town of M onassukapan&ugh. That it was an important place is in- 
dicated by another statement by Jefferson (op. cit.), who, when writ- 
ing of mounds in general, but of the " Indian grave " in particular, 
said : " But on whatever occasion they may have been made, they 
are of considerable notoriety among the Indians; for a party pass- 
ing, about thirty years ago, through the part of the country where 
this barrow is. went through the woods directly to it, without any 
instructions or enquiry, and having staid about it some time, with 
expressions which were construed to be those of sorrow, they re- 
turned to the high road, which they had left about half a dozen 
miles to pay this visit, and pursued their journey." This visit prob- 
ably took place about the time the land was granted to the settlers, 
and the Indians who so well knew of the situation of this burial 
place must have been some who had formerly lived in the near-by 
village. A plan of this interesting area is given in figure 15, the 
approximate site of the " Indian grave " being indicated by the heavy 
dot. In plate 14 are shown several views of the same area. Looking 
northward across the Rivanna, a, the sites of the village and an- 
cient mound are visible on the level lowland, just before reaching 
the first line of trees which stands along the right bank of the 
river. The second, is looking northwestward, along the cliffs 
which bound the lowland, and c shows the Rivanna in front of the 
land once occupied by the native village. At the present time the 
surface upon which the settlement stood is covered by nearly 3 feet 
of alluvium, deposited by the waters of the Rivanna during freshets. 
During recent years, floods have several times cut into this upper 
stratum, and when the waters receded various objects of Indian origin 
were discovered, thus proving the location of a native town. (Bush- 
nell, (4).) And it is said that within a century other Indians 
stopped here, a site known to them, while moving from place to place, 
but who they were, or whence they came, may never be revealed. 

Another great burial place, evidently similar to the "Indian grave," 
stood on the right bank of the Rapidan about 1 mile east of the 
boundary between Orange and Greene Counties, Virginia, and in an 
air line about 15 miles from the latter. A great part of the structure 
had been washed away by the river, which, having formed a new 
channel, reached to the base of the mound, a part being undermined 
and carried away by the current. It was estimated to have been 
originally not less than 12 feet in height, and the diameters of its 
base were probably about 50 and 75 feet. When the remaining portion 



bdshnell] 



NATIVE CEMETERIES AND FORMS OF BURIAL 



127 



was examined, many strata of bones were encountered, mingled and 
confused, all ages being represented. While some of the remains 
were in a fair state of preservation others were reduced to a powder. 
" Numerous small deposits of human bones almost destroyed by 
fire were scattered through the mound. When found in the bone- 




Fig. 15. — Plan of " The Indian Grave low grounds," showing approximate site of the 
mound opened by Jefferson. (Contour intervals about 10 feet.) 



beds, they seemed to have been placed at random, but when found 
with the remains of not more than 2 or 3 skeletons they formed a 
thin layer upon which the latter rested." Pits w T ere encountered be- 
neath the mound, these evidently having been prepared before the 
superstratum was formed. These were of two forms : " One class was 
excavated to a depth of 2 feet in the soil, with a diameter varying 
from 4 to 5 feet; the others did not exceed a foot in depth, and all 
were somewhat less than 4 feet across. The deeper one . contained 



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BUKEAU OF AMERICAN ETHNOLOGY 



[BULL. 71 



usually 3 layers of decomposed bones at intervals of about 10 inches; 
in the shallower there was in most cases only a single layer, at the 
bottom, though in a few a second deposit had been made a few 
inches above the first. The bones in some of the graves appeared to 
have been placed in their proper position; but it was impossible 
to ascertain with certainty whether such was the case. One of 
the deeper pits had its bottom and sides lined with charcoal; none 
of the others had even this slight evidence of care or respect. . . . 
No relics of any sort were deposited with the bones ; a rough mortar, 
2 arrowheads, and some fragments of pottery were found loose in 
the debris. . . . It is impossible to accurately estimate the num- 
ber of skeletons found in this mound ; but there were certainly not 
fewer than 200, and there may possibly have been 250. These figures 
will represent, approximately, one-fourth of the entire number de- 
posited, if the statements as to the original size of the mound be 
correct." (Fowke, (1), pp. 33-36.) 

Jefferson failed to mention pits beneath the mound examined by 
him, and they may or may not have existed; nevertheless the great 
similarity of the two mounds makes it certain they were erected by 
people possessing the same burial customs. Both were on the right 
banks of the streams, and they undoubtedly indicated the positions 
of two ancient Monacan settlements which may have been occupied 
at the time of the coming of the colonists to Jamestown in 1607. 

The visit of Indians to the mound on the Kivanna, some years 
after the adjoining village had been abandoned, as told by Jefferson, 
is most interesting, but other similar instances are known. In a 
letter to the Bureau of Ethnology about the year 1890 the late W. M. 
Ambler, of Louisa County, Virginia, mentioned a burial mound on 
the bank of Dirty Swamp Creek, in that county, and said in part: 
" I was told by Abner Harris, now deceased, that some Indians from 
the southwest visited this mound many years ago. They left their 
direct route to Washington at Staunton, and reached the exact spot 
traveling through the woods on foot. This has made me suppose 
that this mound was a noted one in Indian annals." 

Another visit by some remnant of a native tribe to an ancient 
burial place has been recorded. This was on the lowlands near the 
bank of the Cowpasture, or Wallawhutoola Eiver, in Bath County, 
Virginia, on the lands of Warwick Gatewood. The account, as pre- 
served, reads : " Some years since, Col. Adam Dickinson, who then 
owned and lived on the land, in a conversation I had with him, re- 
lated to me that many years before that time, as he was sitting 
in his porch one afternoon, his attention was arrested by a company 
of strange-looking men coming up the bottom lands of the river. 
They seemed to him to be in quest of something, when, all at once, 



bushnell] NATIVE CEMETERIES AND FORMS OF BURIAL 129 

they made a sudden angle, and went straight to the mound. He 
saw them walking over it and round and round; seeming to be en- 
gaged in earnest talk. After remaining a length of time, they left 
it and came to the house. The company, I think he told me, con- 
sisted of ten or twelve Indians ; all young men except one, who 
seemed to be borne down with extreme old age. By signs they asked 
for something to eat; which was given them; after which they 
immediately departed." (Montanus, (1), pp. 91-92.) 

With three distinct accounts of visits by parties of Indians to their 
ancient burial places — and it is plausible to consider the different 
journeys to have been undertaken by some whose forefathers were 
buried in the mounds — it is to be regretted that apparently no at- 
tempt was made to ascertain the name of the tribe to which the 
several groups belonged or whence they came. But only those whose 
ancestors lay in these great tribal burial places would have retained 
the traditions of the sites, and these and no others would have made 
pilgrimages to their tombs. And so it is evident that descendants 
of the once numerous Monacan were living in piedmont Virginia 
within a century, and still retained knowledge of the locations of 
their ancient settlements with their near-by cemeteries. Now all 
have passed away. 

It is more than probable that other mounds once standing in this 
part of Virginia, similar to the one examined by Jefferson, have 
been entirely destroyed and no record of their existence preserved, 
and were it not for Jefferson's own account that most interesting 
example would have suffered a like .fate. But burial places of this 
form may not have existed over a very wide region. One was for- 
merly standing some 3^ miles north of Luray, near the bank of 
Pass Bun, in Page County, Virginia. It had been reduced by the 
plow from an original height of between 8 and 9 feet to about one- 
third of that elevation. The remaining portion of the mound when 
examined revealed great quantities of human remains, some of which 
were cremated, all greatly decayed. Graves were encountered beneath 
the original surface upon which the structure was raised. Some 
burials were covered by stones. Various objects of native origin 
were associated with the burials. (Fowke, (1), pp. 49-53.) 

A similar burial place, estimated to have contained at least 800 
skeletons, or remains of that number of individuals, stood about 2 
miles northwest of Linville, near the bank of Linville Creek, in Rock- 
ingham County, Virginia. This likewise had been greatly reduced by 
cultivation, and " over the entire surface of the mound, to a depth 
of six inches, there is not so much as a space three inches square that 
did not contain fragments of bone which had been dragged down 
130548°— 20 9 



130 



BUKEAU OF AMERICAN ETHNOLOGY 



Lbull. 71 



from the top by cultivation." (Fowke, op. cit.) Another stood about 
5 miles above the mouth of the Bullpasture, in Highland County, 
Virginia. " For forty years human bones and teeth have been plowed 
out every time the mound was cultivated," but from the remaining 
part of the mound " the remains of between seA T enty-five and one hun- 
dred skeletons were exhumed." (Fowke, op. cit.) A mound in which 
the bodies were less compactly deposited stood on Hayes Creek, in 
Rockbridge County, Virginia. (Valentine Museum, (1).) 

Referring to the native tribes of this part of Virginia Mooney has 
written: "The history of the Monacan tribes of Virginia belongs 
to two distinct periods, the colonization period and the colonial period. 
By the former we may understand the time of exploration and settle- 
ment from the first landing of the English in Virginia to the expedi- 
tions of Lederer and Batts, in 1670 and 1671, which supplied the first 
definite information in regard to the country along the base of the 
mountains. Under the colonial period we may include everything else, 
as after the Revolution the small remnant incorporated with the Iro- 
quois in Canada virtually disappeared from history. Up to 1670 the 
Monacan tribes had been but little disturbed by the whites, although 
there is evidence that the Avars waged against them by the Iroquois 
were keeping them constantly shifting about. Their country had not 
been penetrated, excepting by a few traders, who kept no journals, 
and only the names of those living immediately on the frontiers of 
Virginia were known to the whites. Chief among these were the 
Monacan proper, having their village a short distance above Rich- 
mond. In 1670 Lederer crossed the country in a diagonal line from 
the present Richmond to Catawba River, on the frontiers of South 
Carolina, and a year later a party under Batts explored the country 
westward across the Blue Ridge to the headwaters of New River. 
Thenceforward accounts were heard of Nahyssan, Sapona, Totero, 
Occaneechi, and others consolidated afterwards in a single body at the 
frontier, Fort Christanna, and thereafter known collectively as Sa- 
poni or Tutelo. The Monacan proper form, the connecting link be- 
tween the earlier and the later period. The other tribes of this con- 
nection were either extinct or consolidated under other names before 
1700, or were outside of the territory known to the first writers. For 
this reason it is difficult to make the names of the earlier tribes exactly 
synonymous with those known later, although the proof of lineal de- 
scent is sometimes beyond question." (Mooney, (1), pp. 25-26.) 

Thus it will be understood that although piedmont Virginia was 
the home of many related tribes, all of whom may have belonged to the 
Siouan linguistic family, sufficient information is not available to make 
it possible to designate the habitat of each tribe, and thereby identify 
the occupants of a village when a near-by burial place was created. 



bushnell] NATIVE CEMETERIES AND FORMS OF BURIAL 131 

The ancient burial places which have been encountered scattered over 
this region reveal something of the customs of the people, and indi- 
cate the final disposition of the remains of the dead, but practically 
nothing is known of the ceremonies which attended death and 
burial. Mooney, when summarizing Lederer's rather vague narra- 
tive, said: "They had a strict marriage and kinship system, based 
on this clan division, with descent in the female line. . . . Even in 
death this division was followed out and separate quarters of their 
burial places were assigned to each of the four clans. The dead 
were wrapped in skins of animals and buried with food and house- 
hold properties deemed necessary for the use of the ghost in the 
other world. When a noted warrior died, prisoners of war were 
sometimes killed at the grave to accompany him to the land of the 
dead. Their spirit world was in the west, beyond the mountains 
and the traditional western ocean." (Mooney, (1), p. 33.) 

It is not known to which of the tribes Lederer referred in par- 
ticular, but there is a possibility of its having been applicable to 
all the Siouan groups with whom he came in contact while crossing 
the central piedmont country. He mentioned four gentes, there- 
fore it would be expected that the ancient cemeteries, of whatever 
form they were, contained burials in that number of groups (Led- 
erer, (1) ), but at the present time it would be impossible to distin- 
guish any such division. 

THE SANTEE 

Siouan tribes extended southward into the central portions of the 
present State of South Carolina, and the Santee were undoubtedly 
members of this linguistic family. One of their villages probably 
stood on the shore of Scott Lake, in the valley of the Santee about 
9 miles southwest of Summerton, Clarendon County. Here, near 
the shore of the lake, is a conical mound of earth, and scattered over 
the surrounding area are many fragments of pottery and other 
traces of an Indian settlement, but the surface has been modified 
by the waters of the Santee during periods of flood, and con- 
sequently the greater part of the surface as it was at the time of 
Indian occupancy has been washed away or covered by alluvium. 
This site is, in a direct line, a little more than 60 miles northwest 
of Charleston, and the village may have been one visited by Lawson 
during the first days of January, 1701. The mound may have been 
the one referred to by Lawson, who, after mentioning his meeting 
with the Santee, continued : " Near to these Cabins are several Tombs 
made after the fashion of the Indians; the largest and chief est of 
them was the Sepulchre of the late Indian King of the Santees, 
a Man of Great Power, not only amongst his own subjects, but 
dreaded by the Neighboring Nations for his great Valour and Con- 



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BUREAU OF AMERICAN ETHNOLOGY 



[bull. 71 



duct, having as large a Prerogative in his Way of Ruling as the 
Present King I now spoke of. 

" The manner of their Interment is thus : A Mole or Pyramid 
of Earth is raised, the Mole thereof being worked very smooth and 
even, sometimes higher or lower, according to the dignity of the 
Person whose Monument it is. On the Top there is an Umbrella, 
made Ridge- Ways, like the roof of an House; this is supported by 
nine Stakes or small Posts, the grave being about 6 to 8 foot in 
Length, and Four Foot in Breadth; about it is hung Gourds, 
Feathers, and other suchlike Trophies, placed there by the dead 
man's relations, in Eespect to him in the Grave. The other part of 
the Funeral Rites are thus: As soon as the party is dead, they lay 
the corpse on a piece of bark in the Sun, seasoning or embalming 
it with a small root beaten to powder, which looks as red as Ver- 
million ; the same is mixed with Bear's Oil to beautify the Hair. . . . 
After the Carcass has laid a day or two in the Sun, they remove it 
and lay it upon Crotches cut on purpose for the support thereof 
from the Earth ; Then they anoint it all over with the fore-mentioned 
ingredients of the powder of this root and Bear's Oil. When it is 
so done, they cover it over very exactly with bark of the Pine or 
Cyprus Trees, to prevent any Rain to fall upon it, sweeping the 
ground very clean all about it. Some of the nearest Kin brings all 
the temporal Estate he was possess'd of at his death, as Guns, Bows, 
Arrows, Beads, Feathers, Match-Coat, etc. This relation is the chief 
mourner, being clad in moss, and a stick in his hand, keeping a 
mournful ditty for three or four days, his face being black with the 
Smoke of Pitch Pine mingled with Bear's Oil. All the while he 
tells the dead Man's relations, and the rest of the spectators who that 
Dead Person was, and of the Great Feats performed in his lifetime ; 
all of what he speaks, tending to the praise of the defunct. As soon 
as the flesh grows mellow, and will cleave from the bone, they get it 
off, and burn it, making all the bones very clean, then anoint them 
with the ingredients aforesaid, wrapping up the Skull (very care- 
fully) in a cloth artificially woven of Possum's Hair. (These 
Indians make Girdles, Sashes, Garters, etc., after the same manner) 
The bones they very carefully preserve in a wooden box, every year 
oiling and cleaning them; by this means preserve them for many 
ages, that you may see an Indian in possession of the bones of his 
grandfather, or some of his relations of a larger Antiquity. They 
have other sorts of Tombs, as where an Indian is slain, in that place 
they make a heap of stones, (or sticks where stones are not to be 
found) to this memorial every Indian that passes by adds a stone to 
augment the Heap, in respect to the deceas'd hero." (Lawson, (1), 
pp. 9-10.) 



BDSHNELL] NATIVE CEMETERIES AND FORMS OF BURIAL 133 

The preceding account treated of the San tee, with whom Law- 
son came in contact soon after starting on his memorable journey 
through the wilds of Carolina, but later in his history he presented 
a more general description of the burial customs of the native tribes 
of the region, and fortunately recorded many interesting details. 
The greater the man in life, the more elaborate was his burial. " The 
first thing which is done is to place the nearest Eelations near the 
Corps, who mourn and weep very much, having their hair hung 
down their Shoulders, in a very forlorn manner. After the dead 
Person has laid a Day and a Night in one of their Hurdles of Canes, 
commonly in some out-House made for that purpose, those that 
officiate about the Funeral go into Town, and the first young Men 
they meet withal that have Blankets or Match Coats on, whom they 
think fit for their Turn, they strip them from their Backs, who 
suffer them to do so without any Eesistance. In these they wrap 
the dead Bodies, and convey them with two or three Mats which the 
Indians make of Eushes or Cane ; and last of all they have a long Web 
of woven Eeeds, or hollow Canes, which is the Coffin of the Indians, 
and is brought around several times and is tied fast at both ends, 
which indeed looks very decent and well. Then the Corps is brought 
out of the House into the Orchard of Peach-Trees, where another 
Hurdle is made to receive it, about which comes all the Eelations and 
Nation that the dead person belonged to, besides several from other 
Nations in Alliance with tnem; all which sit down on the Ground 
upon Mats spread there for that purpose." 

Then various persons gathered about the body and would tell of his 
very many acts of bravery, speak of his greatness while living, and 
extol his virtues, and " At last the Corps is brought away from that 
Hurdle to the Grave, by four young Men, attended by the Eelations, 
the King, Old Men and all the Nation. When they come to the 
Sepulchre, which is about six foot deep, and eight foot long, hav- 
ing at each end, (that is, at the Head and Foot) a Light- Wood or 
Pitch-Pine Fork driven close down the sides of the Grave, firmly 
into the Ground; (these two forks are to contain a Eidge-Pole, as 
you shall understand presently) before they lay the Corps into the 
Grave they cover the bottom two or three times over with Bark 
of Trees, then they let down the Corps with two Belts, that the 
Indians carry their Burdens withal very leisurely upon the said 
Barks; then they lay over a Pole of the Same Wood, in the two 
Forks, and having a great many Pieces of Pitch-Pine logs, about 
two foot and a half long, they stick them in the sides of the Grave 
down each end, and near the top thereof, where the other Ends 
lie on the Eidge-Pole, so that they are declining like the roof of 
a House. These being very thick plac'd they cover them (many 



134 



BUKEAIT OF AMERICAN ETHNOLOGY 



[bull. 71 



times double) with Bark; then they throw the Earth thereon, that 
came out of the Grave, and beat it down very firm, by this means 
the Dead body lies in a Vault, nothing touching him ; so that when I 
saw this way of burial, I was mightily pleased with it, esteeming it 
very pleasant and decent, as having seen a great many Christians 
buried without the tenth part of that Ceremony and Decency. Now 
when the Flesh is rotten and Moulder'd from the Bones they take 
up the Carcass and clean the Bones, and joint *them together ; after- 
wards they dress them up in pure white dressed Deer-Skins, and lay 
them amongst their Grandees and Kings in the Quiogozon, which is 
their royal Tomb or Burial-Place of their Kings and War-Captains. 
This is a very large Magnificent Cabin, (according to their Building) 
which is raised at the Public Charge of the Nation, and maintained 
in a great deal of form and Neatness. About seven foot high is a 
Floor or Loft made, on which lie all their Princes and great Men, 
that have died for several Hundred years, all attired in the dress 
I have before told you of. No person is to have his bones lie here 
and be thus dressed, unless he gives a round sum of their Money to 
the Rulers, for Admittance. If they remove never so far, to live 
in a Foreign Country, they never fail to take all these Dead Bones 
with them, tho' the Tecliousness of their short daily Marches keeps 
them never so long on their Journey. They reverence and adore this 
Quiogozon, with all the Veneration and Respect that is possible for 
such a People to discharge, and had rather lose all than have any 
Violence or Injury offer'd thereto. These Savages differ some small 
matter in their Burials; some burying right upwards, and other- 
wise. . . . Yet they all agree in their Mourning, which is to appear 
every night at the Sepulchre, and howl and weep in a very dismal 
manner, having their Faces dawb'd with Light- Wood Soot, (which 
is the same as Lamp-Black) and Bears Oil. ... If the Dead Per- 
son was a Grandee, to carry on the Funeral Ceremonies, they hire 
people to cry and Lament over the Dead Body." (Lawson, (1), pp. 
106-109.) 

A cemetery and village site which may be attributed to one of the 
Siouan tribes stand near the bank of Yadkin River, a short distance 
from the village of East Bend, Yadkin County, North Carolina. The 
cemetery, which was examined by Capt. R. D. Wainwright, occupies 
the north end of a low ridge, and many graves have been exposed 
or washed away by the waters of the Yadkin. The majority of skele- 
tons appear to have been flexed. As described, " these skeletons were 
found within a few feet of each other and all nearly on the same 
level, about four feet below the original surface. In nearly every 
case, at the same level and very close to the burial, were the remains 
of a fire. In these remains were found tortoise shells, bones of the 
deer, and often fragments of pottery discolored by the action of the* 



bushnell] NATIVE CEMETERIES AND FORMS OF BURIAL 135 

fire." Many implements and ornaments were found associated with 
the burials. These included stone celts and one of iron, and shell and 
copper beads of different forms, while resting upon one skeleton was 
a copper ornament 4 inches in diameter and perforated through the 
center. Pieces of galena were met with in different burials. Pipes 
of stone and some of pottery were likewise found. The area ad- 
joining the cemetery was evidently occupied by the village, and 
many objects of stone and copper, fragments of pottery vessels, 
beads, and broken pipes are found scattered about, " and in every 
direction calcined stones are plentiful." This was evidently the site 
of an important town of two centuries or more ago. 

In the far southeastern section of the region once occupied by 
Siouan tribes, in Duplin County, North Carolina, are several burial 
mounds which may have been erected by these people long before 
the coming of the colonists to the Cape Fear. The mounds were 
carefully examined some years ago by the late Dr. J. A. Holmes, 
and one in particular recalls the burial mounds of piedmont Vir- 
ginia, likewise attributed to a Siouan tribe. This stood about one- 
half mile southwest of the court house at Kenansville, Duplin 
County, on a dry, sandy ridge. When examined it was only 3 feet 
in height and 35 feet in diameter. Its height was probably much 
reduced since erection. It was found to contain 60 burials, and with 
few exceptions the skeletons had been closely flexed. " In a few 
cases the skeletons occurred singly, while in other cases several 
were found in actual contact with one another; and in one portion 
of the mound, near the outer edge, twenty-one skeletons were found 
placed within a space of six feet square. Here, in the case last men- 
tioned, several of the skeletons lay side by side, others on top of 
these, parallel to them, while still others lay on top of and across 
the first. When one skeleton was located above another, in some 
cases the two were in actual contact, in other cases they were sepa- 
rated by one foot or more of soil. Many fragments of pottery, and 
small pieces of charcoal were scattered throughout the mound. No 
implements of any form were found. Near the skull of one skeleton 
were discovered about seventy-five small shells, Marginella roscida, 
which had served as beads. The apex of each one had been ground 
off obliquely so as to leave an opening passing through the shell from 
the apex to the anterior canal." (Sprunt, (1).) As stated above, 
this mound is suggestive of others discovered northward in piedmont 
Virginia. 

THE BILOXI AND PASCAGOULA 

The " Siouan Tribes of the East," whose burial customs so far 
as known are detailed on the preceding pages, were carefully 
studied some years ago, at which time all available notes were gath- 



136 



BUREAU OF AMERICAN ETHNOLOGY 



[BULL. 71 



ered and presented in a single volume. (Mooney, (1) .) A few years 
before the preparation of this most interesting bulletin a discovery 
of the greatest importance was made by another member of the 
bureau staff, Mr. Gatschet, who, while engaged in Louisiana in 1886, 
discovered a small band of Biloxi, some of whom spoke their old 
language, which Gatschet soon found was Siouan. The Biloxi there- 
fore belonged to the great Siouan family, and the neighboring Pas- 
cagoula were probably of the same stock. These were among the 
first of the native tribes encountered by the French in 1699, and, for- 
tunately, a sketch of their burial customs has been preserved. The 
account was written by a French officer about the year 1730, and, as 
quoted by Swanton, reads (Dorsey and Swanton, (1), p. 7) : 

" The Paskagoulas and the Billoxis never inter their chief when 
he is dead, but they have his body dried in the fire and smoke so that 
they make of it a veritable skeleton. After having reduced it to 
this condition they carry it to the temple ( for they have one as well 
as the Natchez) and put it in the place occupied by its predecessor, 
which they take from the place which it occupied to place it with 
the bodies of their other chiefs in the interior of the temple, where 
they are all ranged in succession on their feet like statues. With 
regard to the one last dead, it is exposed at the entrance of the temple 
on a kind of altar or table made of canes and covered with a very 
fine mat worked very neatly in red and yellow squares (Quarreaux) 
with the skin of these same canes. The body of the chief is exposed 
in the middle of this table upright on its feet, supported behind by 
a long pole painted red, the end of which passes above his head and 
to which he is fastened at the middle of the body by a creeper. In 
one hand he holds a war club or a little ax, in the other a pipe, and 
above his head is fastened, at the end of the pole which supports 
him, the most famous of all the calumets which have been presented 
to him during his life. It may be added that this table is scarcely 
elevated from the earth half a foot, but it is at least six feet wide 
and ten long. It is to this table that they come every day to 
serve food to the dead chief, placing before him dishes of hominy, 
parched or smoke-dried grain, etc. It is there also that at the begin- 
ning of all the harvests his subjects offer him the first of all the 
fruits which they can gather. All of this kind that is presented to 
him remains on this table, and as the door of the temple is always 
open, as there is no one appointed to watch it, as consequently who- 
ever wants to enters, and as besides it is a full quarter of a league 
distant from the village, it happens that there are commonly strang- 
ers — hunters or savages — who profit by these dishes and these fruits, 
or that they are consumed by animals. But that is all the same to 
these savages. ... It is also before this table that during some 
months the widow of the chief, his children, his nearest relations, 



bushnell] NATIVE CEMETERIES AND FORMS OF BURIAL 137 

come from time to time to pay him a visit and to make him a speech 
as if he were in a condition to hear . . . they always end their speech 
by telling him not to be angry with them, to eat well, and that they 
will always take good care of him." (Dumont, (1), I, pp. 240-243.) 

SOUTHERN OHIO AND ADJACENT REGIONS • 

The origin and age of the earthworks of southern Ohio and the 
adjoining sections of Kentucky and West Virginia have remained 
unsolved questions. The works are remarkable for three reasons, 
namely, their size, number and forms. By their size and number it 
is quite evident they were erected by a sedentary people, a numerous 
people who occupied the country for a long period, and by their 
forms it is shown these same people possessed certain recognized cus- 
toms and beliefs which caused them to erect the great circles and 
squares, octagons and other figures, so accurately and skillfully con- 
structed. And so the questions arise, By whom were the vast works 
raised? and, For what reason was the rich and fertile land aban- 
doned ? 

The first of the many groups of earthworks to be described was 
that at Marietta, on the Ohio at the mouth of the Muskingum. These 
were surveyed by Capt. Jonathan Heart, and his map, together with 
descriptive text, appeared in Vol. I, No. 9, of The Columbian Maga- 
zine, published in Philadelphia in May, 1787. Other accounts were 
soon printed, to be followed in 1848 by the great work by E. G. 
Squier and E. H. Davis, this being the most interesting and most 
valuable volume ever published on American antiquities. During 
latter years many of the sites described at that time have disappeared 
through the cultivation of the soil; others have become greatly 
reduced in height and have lost their clearness of outline. Some 
have been carefully examined and accounts of the discoveries pre- 
served ; others have been destroyed and no knowledge of the nature 
of their contents can be gained. And the losses thus sustained can 
never be regained. It is gratifying to know that many of the origi- 
nal maps prepared for the work by Squier and Davis are preserved 
in the Library of Congress, Washington, D. C, and one of the most 
interesting of these is now reproduced as plate 16, the same as was 
engraved and presented as No. 1, Pate III, Ancient Monuments of 
the Mississippi Valley. The original shows a few details not indi- 
cated in the engraved copy. On the plan the group marked B is now 
known as the Baum works. An ancient village once stood near the 
right bank of Paint Creek, Ross County, Ohio, just north of the 
works, surrounding the mound which is shown about midway be- 
tween the creek and the embankment. The mound was omitted from 
the engraving. The examination of the village site, made a few 



138 



BUREAU OF AMERICAN ETHNOLOGY 



[bull. 71 



years ago, proved of much interest, and the similarity of material 
recovered from it, and the manner in which the remains of the dead 
had been deposited, showed clearly the connection between the people 
of this ancient settlement and those of other towns which once stood 
in the valleys of the Scioto and the Miami and elsewhere in the 
adjacent region. 

The indications of 49 dwellings or other structures were en- 
countered, and scattered over the area of about 2 acres, around and 
between the houses, were discovered 127 burials and 234 caches — 
pits of various sizes in which food supplies were stored, and which 
may have served other purposes as well. The dwellings at this 
ancient village, as shown by the postholes which outline the floor 
spaces, were invariably of a circular form, but the largest structure 
revealed during the exploration of the site was " of oblong construc- 
tion and measuring upwards of twenty-one feet in length by twelve 
feet in width inside of the posts. The posts were large, as shown by 
the postmolds, and consisted of twenty-one set upright in the ground, 
the smallest being five inches in diameter and the largest nine and 
one-fourth inches. On the inside seven other posts similar in size to 
the outer ones were promiscuously placed, presumably for the sup- 
port of the roof." (Mills, (1).) 

A plan of this structure with its accompanying burials on the 
south and a group of caches and fireplaces on the north is reproduced 
in figure 16. In many of the caches were traces of the corn, beans, 
nuts, and other supplies which they once contained. But now the 
majority when opened are filled with camp refuse, intermingled with 
various objects of native origin which had probably been accidentally 
lost rather than having been intentionally deposited. The burials 
encountered at this site were 30 in number, thus constituting the 
most extensive group discovered, and of these only 10 were adults. 
This may be regarded as a typical cluster of graves as " each family 
group had their own private burial ground," and the graves were 
seldom more than 10 feet from the habitation. "Another form of 
burial occasionally met with in the family groups was where 
interment was made in one of the abandoned storehouses (i. e., 
caches). The head is bent backward and the legs are flexed so that 
the feet are very near the pelvis, and the whole body made to con- 
form to the size of the pit. During the entire exploration only four 
skeletons were taken from the bottom of refuse pits." The caches 
thus appear to have been used rather as a matter of convenience, 
probably at some time when it would have been difficult to have pre- 
pared the usual form of grave, therefore the extended burial was 
the custom of the inhabitants of this ancient settlement. 

The near-by mound, undoubtedly reared by the people whose 
dwellings lay scattered about it, contained various burials, extended, 



BUshnell] NATIVE CEMETERIES AND FORMS OE BURIAL 139 

and placed within inclosures formed of upright posts. The two in- 
cisures, placed one above the other, were indicated by " two series 
of upright post-molds, averaging 5 inches in diameter, equidistant 
10 inches, and forming a perfect circle 36 feet in diameter." 

Many other timbers had entered into the construction of the in- 
closure ; traces of fireplaces were visible with a mass of burnt clay 





























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Fig 16. — Plan of a habitation, with near-by graves, Ross County, Ohio. 



separating the two inclosures. The bottom of the lower one had 
evidently been covered with smaller timbers, and " all the skeletons 
discovered were in the area inclosed by these posts. They lay at 
different depths and in different positions,- the favorite or predom- 
inant one, at least in the upper portion, being just inside and along- 
side of the inner circle of palings. The skeletons unearthed were 
all in a remarkably good state of preservation. None of them could 
have been intrusively buried." Sixteen skeletons were discovered, 
all except one " lay stretched out at full length," and the single one 



140 



BUREAU OF AMERICAN ETHNOLOGY 



[bull. 71 



" lay partly upon the side, with knees drawn up and head crouched 
down upon the ribs, as though originally placed in a sitting posture." 
(Thomas, (1), pp. 484-488.) 

Therefore, the two characteristic features revealed at this site 
were, first, the great number of caches, and, second, the method of 
burial, evidently all the dead having been interred in graves near 
the habitation, cremation not being practiced. Quite similar to the 
preceding were traces of an ancient village, with its accompanying 
mound, which stood some 6 miles north of Chillicothe, Ross County, 
Ohio, on the east side of the Scioto, this being the left bank of the 
stream. "The village site proper occupies between 3 and 4 acres 
of land and entirely surrounds the mound. However, directly south 
and southeast of the mound, surface indications are richest, for 
here our examination showed the earth was intermingled with the 
refuse from their homes to the depth of from 1 foot to 20 inches. 
. . . Directly to the south and less than one-half mile is what is 
known as the Cedar Bank Works, which has been described by 
Squier and Davis." 

No traces of a village were discovered nearer the inclosures, and 
so it appeared reasonable to attribute their origin to those who once 
occupied the settlement less than one-half mile northward. The 
entire site was not examined, but " as the examination progressed 
it was soon discovered that the inhabitants of this village lived in 
small clans or family groups. Although only 15 skeletons were un- 
earthed in the examination of this village, there is no doubt but that 
burials were made along the hillside which surrounds the village on 
three sides." Describing the burials discovered near the sites of the 
dwellings it was said: "The dead were evidently buried in close 
proximity to the habitat of these people and were similar in every 
respect to the burials iii the Baum village site, along Paint Creek. 
Each family apparently had their own burial ground, which was in 
close proximity to the home. No evidence was found that the bodies 
had been placed upon scaffolds and afterwards reinterred. In the 
majority of the graves the body was placed at full length . . . 
however, a single burial was found in the bottom of a refuse pit." 
No cremated remains were discovered outside the mound which 
stood near the center of the ancient village. 

The examination of the mound proved of the greatest interest. It 
"was made up of three separate and distinct sections, as is shown 
in figure 17. The burials in the first section differed greatly from 
those in the second and third, which were similar. In the first sec- 
tion the bodies had been cremated and the ashes with the personal 
belongings had been deposited upon a prepared platform of earth; 
while in the second and third sections the inhumation of the bodies 



bushnbll] NATIVE CEMETERIES AND FORMS OF BURIAL 



141 



were in every portion of the mound as well as below the base." In 
the first section, resting upon the platform which measured about 
34 by 23 feet, was a great mass of ashes, in places feet in thickness. 
Much of this may have resulted from the cremation of human bodies, 
but " with the ashes were unburned animal bones which had been 
intermingled with the incinerated human bones, as well as imple- 
ments and ornaments made of bone, stone, and shell, which were no 
doubt the personal property of the deceased. The animals identi- 
fied as they were removed from these ashes were the black bear, 
beaver, deer, elk, raccoon, wolf, gray fox, musk rat, ground hog, 
opossum, and mink. The bones of various birds, such as the wild 
turkey, great horned owl, trumpeter swan, and wild goose, were also 
found. Quantities of mussel shells, as well as the bones of the fresh 
water drum, were also removed." 

One of the burials encountered during the exploration of the mound 
" was buried three feet below the base line. The skeleton was placed 
on the right side, facing the east. Near the head was found a per- 




Fig. 17.— Section of the " Gartner Mound." 



feet piece of pottery," and near by was a mussel shell which had 
served as a spoon. 

Scattered over the site of the village, surrounding the areas once 
occupied by the dwellings of the inhabitants, were many caches, more 
than 100 being discovered, and these were in all details similar to 
those whieh abound on the ancient sites in Paint Creek Valley. The 
entire account of the examination of the mound and surrounding vil- 
lage site, standing on the bank of the Scioto, is of much interest. 
(Mills, (2).) 

The descriptions of these two sites, so similar to each other, with 
the numerous caches now filled with the accumulation of camp refuse, 
intermingled with objects of native origin, and with the remains of 
the dead occupying positions near the traces of the small habitations 
which once stood surrounded by vast forests, readily suggest the ac- 
count of the discoveries made on the bank of the James, near Gala, 
in Botetourt County, Virginia. So alike are the descriptions that all 
the settlements could justly be attributed to the same people. Again, 
certain objects found on all are quite similar. The sites on the James 
and in piedmont Virginia are accepted as marking the positions of 
towns of Siouan tribes and were probably occupied when Jamestown 
was settled. The upper Ohio Valley was, according to tradition, the 
home of Siouan tribes before their migration westward, down the 



142 



BUREAU OF AMERICAN ETHNOLOGY 



[BULL. 71 



stream to the Mississippi and beyond. Therefore it is reasonable to 
regard the two ancient sites already mentioned, one on the bank of 
Paint Creek, the other bordering on the Scioto, as the remains of 
Siouan villages peopled generations ago. 

The Siouan family, now and probably always quite numerous, could 
have spread over the hills and valleys bordering the Ohio and could 
have been the builders of the numerous earthworks. Crania re- 
covered from graves in this region are not to be distinguished from 
those of the present-day Osage, and certain customs of the latter, as in 
establishing their camps and enacting their ceremonies, could readily 
be carried back to the use of great circles and other figures. But 
with a decided change of habitat, leaving their long occupied towns 
and entering a new region, and thus probably for several genera- 
tions becoming nomadic rather than sedentary, and more expert 
hunters than agriculturists, they no longer erected great works but 
sought new homes under changed conditions. The cause or causes 
of this great tribal migration may never be determined. Whether 
voluntary or enforced may ever remain unsolved, but it is difficult to 
picture a people abandoning their homes, with the extensive works 
revealing the results of great labor, unless for some vital reason. 

The mound which stood near the left bank of the Scioto less than 
one-half mile north of the Cedar Bank Works revealed two forms 
of burials. The later was the inhumation of the entire bodies, ex- 
tended and at different levels, but the earlier proved the practice of 
cremating the dead and depositing the ashes, together with various 
objects, on a previously prepared platform of clay. Whether this 
should be regarded as representing a period of transition or as merely 
revealing the customs of two or more branches of the tribe may never 
be determined ; nevertheless the most interesting discoveries yet made 
in the valley of the Scioto have been associated with cremated human 
remains. 

A short distance east of the Scioto, about 8 miles south of Chilli- 
cothe, in Ross County, Ohio, stood a group of earthworks of charac- 
teristic forms, including various mounds. The largest mound of this 
group measured about 160 feet in length, with a maximum width of 85 
feet and a height of 16 feet 3 inches. Various attempts had been 
made in the past to examine it, but without discovering its true char- 
acter. However, the final examination proved "the object of the 
mound was purely mortuary, and the site of the mound a charnel 
house until it was filled with graves, when the house was destroyed 
by fire and a mound erected as a monument to the dead. All of the 
graves in the mound showed a careful preparation for the reception 
of the remains." (Mills, (3) , p. 82.) 

The careful examination of the base of the mound made it possible 
to gain a very good conception of the nature of the ancient structure 



bushnbll] NATIVE CEMETERIES AND FORMS OF BURIAL 



143 



which once occupied the site. And to quote at length: "The site of 
the great mound had been properly prepared and its beginning was 
at the south end of the mound, marked by large posts set in the 
ground at a depth varying from tw r o and one-half to three feet. The 
south end of the enclosure was made in the form of a semicircle, and 
the sides continuing in a straight line north for sixty feet, when the 
line of posts was turned at right angles to the east wall and running 
across toward the west side, where an opening was left for an en- 
trance. This enclosure of sixty feet in length measuring from the 
center of the circle on the south to the row of posts running across the 
mound at right angles to the outside walls, forty feet in width at the 
north end, was no doubt the first structure or enclosure for the recep- 
tion of the dead. The second enclosure was merely a continuation of 
the outside walls of the first, extending some seventy feet directly to 
the north . . ." During the final work a total of 133 burials were 
encountered, and of these 128 were cremated. "All the burials, 
whether cremated or uncremated, were placed in a prepared grave 
and great care and some degree of skill was displayed in their con- 
struction. The graves of the cremated were similar to each other so 
far as the outside construction was concerned, but unlike in the gen- 
eral make up of the inside of the grave. Out of one hundred and 
twenty-eight graves unearthed, four different types were found, and 
these were many times duplicated during the explorations. First. 
The plain elevated platform made of clay and usually elevated from 
three to six inches above the prepared platform. . . . These plain 
platforms averaged in length about four feet and in width two and 
one-half to three feet. The logs were usually made the exact size of 
the graves. In a few instances they extended over at one end or the 
other, and not a single grave was found on the base of this entire 
mound that did not show the use of logs as an outline for the grave. 
In many instances the logs w T ere put in place upon the platform and 
plastered over with this clay, and then the inside of the grave was 
made. . . . Second. The next type of grave was similar to the first 
and apparently made in the same way, with this difference : the top of 
the platform was cut out and made in the form of a basin, varying in 
depth at the center from two to four inches. . . . Third. Elliptical 
shaped grave. In this form of grave the platform was similar to the 
other graves, but the timber used in the construction of the outside 
portion was made of small pieces of logs and the clay plastered over 
them. . . . This form of grave would vary in depth from four to 
eight inches. . . . Fourth. The grave made in the form of a paral- 
lelogram. This form of grave was found in various portions of the 
mound and was constructed similar in every respect to the other 
types, the logs being put in place and plastered over, while the inside 
was removed to a depth varying from four to twelve inches. For the 



144 



BUREAU OF AMERICAN ETHNOLOGY 



[bull. 71 



uncremated similarly prepared platform graves inclosed by logs were 
made, and the body was placed at full length within the inclosure." 
The objects of native origin associated with the cremated remains 
were many cut, polished, and perforated teeth of the bear, copper 
ear ornaments, a platform pipe, and other objects of stone. With the 
extended burial were masses of ashes. " This individual was placed 
in the grave at full length, with him were ornaments of copper, such 
as the ear ornaments, which can be seen at the side of the head, and a 
great copper plate which is under the loins. The ornaments are simi- 
lar to those found in the cremated graves. On the right hand side of 
the body, as it lay in the grave, was placed the incinerated remains of 
an adult, on the left hand was a human skull, and near the head on 
the left side of the body, was placed another cremated skeleton; near 
the knees on the right side of the body, was placed the skeleton of a 
little child, and near this skeleton were two human jaws, perforated, 
and which no doubt had been used for ornament." And so the plausi- 
ble conclusions were reached " that this mound must be considered 
purely as a burial mound ; that no altars occurred in the mound ; that 
all burials had prepared graves; that for the most part cremation 
took place at the charnel house where eight great fire places were 
found, which were perfectly devoid of ashes except in one, where a 
small charred piece of human skull was found, thus indicating that 
these fire places were used for the crematory." In many cases the re- 
mains had probably been cremated in the grave, and there allowed 
to rest. 

The prepared graves as described in the preceding account were 
the " altars " of the earlier writers, and as such were often mentioned. 
Many, discovered and examined during the latter part of the first half 
of the last century, were described by Squier and Davis, but unfor- 
tunately they seemed to have failed to recognize the true nature of 
these most unusual resting places for the ashes of the dead. 

Another ruin of the greatest interest remains to be mentioned — one 
which has revealed more clearly than any other certain customs of 
the ancient inhabitants of the valley of the Scioto. This stood a short 
distance from the Ohio, some 5 miles north of the present Ports- 
mouth, near the right bank of the Scioto, and was first surveyed by 
Whittlesey, whose description was incorporated by Squier and Davis 
in their justly praised volume. It w T as then regarded as representing 
an animal of some sort, and was referred to as an Animal Effigy, a 
mistake, if mistake it really was, which could readily have been 
made. It later became known as the Tremper Mound, named after 
the owner of the land upon which it stood. It proved a remarkable 
work, and to quote from the account of the examination : "The mound 
marks the site of a sacred structure, wherein its builders cremated 
their dead, deposited the ashes in communal receptacles, made simi- 



bushnbll] NATIVE CEMETERIES AND FORMS OF BURIAL 



145 



lar disposition of the personal artifacts of the dead, and observed the 
intricate ceremonies incident to funereal rites. The builders of the 
Tremper mound had arrived at a cultural stage where united or com- 
munal effort in great part replaced individual endeavor, and in so 
doing had reached a plane of efficiency probably not equalled by any 
other people in the stone age period of its development." (Mills, (4), 
p. 238.) 

In the mound already described, which belonged to a type found 
in the region, the cremated remains were deposited in individual 
graves, each of which had been separately prepared. Thus the 
"graves soon exhausted the available floor space, while in the Tremper 
mound plan, burial was limited only by the size of the communal 
depositories, the number of which, moreover, easily could be increased 
if needed." 

The surface of the mound had been cultivated for many years, and 
this must necessarily have made a great change in its appearance 
since the survey made by Whittlesey. In 1915 the greatest length of 
the work was 250 feet, its width 150 feet, with a maximum altitude 
of 8-J feet. A building of unusual form and of irregular outline once 
stood here. " The remarkably distinct floor, which in every part of 
the mound was readily distinguishable from the earth composing the 
mound itself, greatly facilitated the locating of the rows of post- 
molds, marking the outline of the structure, as well as of the various 
rooms and compartments thereof. Approximately six hundred of these 
postmolds were noted." A plan of the floor of the ancient structure, 
with the positions of the fireplaces or crematories, the depositories for 
the ashes, and the great cache, is reproduced in plate 17, b. 

The large depository near the northeast corner of the inclosed 
space, and bearing the number 8 on the floor plan, "was in the form of 
a parallelogram, ten feet three inches long, and five feet wide, with 
a central depth of six inches. The bottom measured six feet and six 
inches long by thirteen inches wide, its surface being perfectly flat 
and level. The grave was filled with human ashes and charred bone 
to a depth of a little more than one foot ; these ashes however, were 
very compact, and originally must have been piled high above the 
rim of the basin. The contents of the depository no doubt represent 
the remains of hundreds of cremated bodies, indicating the use of the 
grave for a long period of time." The richness of the material dis- 
covered in the caches proves the importance of the site in prehistoric 
days. 

For the sake of comparison it is interesting to be able to present a 
reproduction of Whittlesey's plan of this mound and the surrounding 
embankment. The original, now in the Library of Congress, is 
shown in plate 17, a. This was engraved and used by Squier and 
130548°— 20 10 



146 



BUREAU OF AMERICAN ETHNOLOGY 



[BULL. 71 



Davis as No. 2, Plate XXIX, in Ancient Monuments of the Missis- 
sippi Valley. The irregular work was compared "to the animal- 
shaped mounds of Wisconsin." Its height was given as from 1 to 8 
feet, and "of the form and relative size indicated in the plan." But, 
unfortunately, no attempt was made to examine the interior. 

CONCLUSION 

With the development of the country between the Atlantic and 
the Mississippi, the cutting away of the great virgin forests and the 
cultivation of the soil, the erection of new towns and the expansion 
of the older ones, all traces of the former period of aboriginal occu- 
pancy are rapidly disappearing. The native villages no longer stand 
and the sites of many are now covered by cities, each having a popu- 
lation greater than that of all the tribes east of the Mississippi three 
centuries ago. The ancient mounds and earthworks are being leveled 
by the plow, and in the cemeteries the remains of the dead are fast 
crumbling to dust. Thus is passing all evidence of those who occu- 
pied the land when it was entered by Europeans. And although 
much still remains to indicate the positions of Indian settlements, 
nevertheless it is easily conceived that little will be discernible by 
the close of the century. Considering this great change which has 
occurred within a few generations it is interesting to study the 
peculiar manners and customs of the native tribes of this part of 
North America. 

On the preceding pages are revealed some of the burial customs 
of the native tribes, as practiced by them when first visited by Euro- 
peans, and as described and recorded in the journals and accounts 
prepared by the early explorers and missionaries. 

The vast territory was the home of many tribes, some small, others 
larger, forming groups in which the different tribes were connected 
linguistically. Often the tribes of one linguistic family possessed 
many customs in common, but this was not true of all. In every sec- 
tion of the country it has been possible to identify the makers of a 
large proportion of the ancient graves, although seldom did one tribe 
follow a single method of disposing of their dead to the exclusion of 
all others ; nevertheless every tribe appears to have had some charac- 
teristic form of burial. But the identification of many burials in 
some parts of the country is made especially difficult by reason of the 
tribes having moved about from place to place. This is particularly 
true of the region north of the Ohio, where, during the past two and 
one-half centuries, the Algonquian tribes have seldom remained long 
in any locality, but during the same period the southern tribes have 
been more sedentary, and where many were discovered by the Span- 
iards about the year 1540, they continued to dwell for three centuries. 
Now, summarizing the many quotations brought together, it is evi- 



bushnbll] NATIVE CEMETERIES AND FORMS OF BURIAL 



147 



dent the Algonquian tribes of New England deposited their dead 
in pits, after the remains had been wrapped and tied, usually with 
the legs drawn up and folded against the trunk. And it is evident 
that some among them followed a strange custom of depositing a 
large quantity of pulverized red oxide of iron in the pits with the 
remains, and that the custom was followed long after the settlement 
of Plymouth is indicated by the discovery made a few years ago in 
Warren, Bristol County, Rhode Island. Quite similar were the pit 
burials of the Iroquoian tribes west of the Hudson, although the 
people of a restricted area, dominated by the Hurons and ancient 
Neuters, had a very elaborate method of disposing of their dead 
which culminated, about once in 10 years, in a great communal burial, 
when the remains were collected and deposited in large pits, or os- 
suaries, lined with rich furs, and which were later covered with brush 
and earth. 

The Algonquian tribes farther west followed various customs. Some 
had a form of scaffold burial, others bound the bodies in skins or 
mats, and, thus wrapped, suspended them among the branches of trees, 
and it is evident these were the "lofty coffins" of an early French 
narrative. And in some instances the bones were later gathered and 
deposited in graves, thus probably explaining the occurrence of dis- 
articulated skeletons in stone-lined graves, so many of which have 
been discovered in graves not more than 2 feet in length, and these 
small graves were thought by the early explorer to be the burial places 
of a race of pygmies. Again some of these tribes resorted to cremation 
as a means of reducing the bulk of a body when it was desired to trans- 
port the remains from the place of death to another locality, often 
the home village of the deceased, for burial. Evidently the Algon- 
quians seldom burned the bodies of their dead unless for some particu- 
lar reason, as just mentioned, but among the ancient inhabitants of 
southern Ohio, undoubtedly Siouan tribes, the art of cremation had 
become highly developed, and the ashes were deposited in great struc- 
tures, erected for that purpose, and probably dedicated to that use 
alone. And it is apparent from discoveries made during the past 
years that offerings made to the cremated dead included the richest 
possessions of the living. 

The Algonquian tribes of tidewater Virginia, those forming the 
Powhatan confederacy so famed in the early days of the colony, had 
two distinct ways of disposing of their dead. The bodies of the more 
important members, the chief men and others, were prepared, dried, 
and certain organs removed, then laid in the Temples, one of which 
stood in every village. Such was the structure described by the artist, 
John White, a member of the English expedition of 1585. The other 
members of the tribes were buried in pits, thus resembling the general 
custom of the northern Algonquians. 



148 



BUREAU OF AMERICAN ETHNOLOGY 



[bull. 71 



The Siouan tribes of piedmont Virginia, or some of these tribes, 
may have followed customs not unlike those of the Hurons and Neu- 
ters, but instead of depositing the accumulated remains in great pits 
they were placed on the surface and covered over with earth, later 
another layer of bones and another mass of earth, until a mound many 
feet in height was formed. 

The southern country was occupied for the most part by tribes of 
the Muskhogean linguistic family. The Choctaw, Chickasaw, and 
Creeks were members of this group. The Choctaw dead were first 
exposed until the flesh could easily be removed, when the bones were 
collected, cleaned, and placed in baskets or other receptacles, then de- 
posited in a " bone-house," a structure resembling the Temple of the 
ancient tribes of Virginia. Later, on a day chosen for the ceremony, 
the remains were carried from the " bone-houses " and placed on 
the surface, in the form of a pyramid, and when so arranged all 
were covered by a mass of earth, thus accounting for the numerous 
small mounds standing in the country once occupied by their many 
towns and villages. In some instances the bones were placed in 
earthenware vessels, which are now found containing the crumbled 
remains, although the great majority were in baskets or wrapped 
in skins, all traces of which have long since disappeared. But very 
different were the customs of the Chickasaws and Creeks, who 
usually buried their dead, soon after death, beneath the floor of the 
house in which they had died. In some instances the houses were 
then abandoned or destroyed by fire, but at other times they con- 
tinued to be occupied by the survivors. 

Among some tribes, both in the north and in the far south, when 
it became necessary for the inhabitants of a town to remove to a 
new locality, their dead would be transported from the old to the 
new settlement, a trait which proves the reverence in which they 
held the memory of the departed. 

Only one instance can be cited where objects found in contact with 
burials had apparently been made especially for the purpose of being 
placed in the graves. This refers to the small thin earthenware 
vessels discovered in the stone graves in Missouri, as described. 
These small, delicately formed bowls would have been of no prac- 
tical use to the living, being very fragile and composed solely of 
clay without the usual admixture of pulverized shell or sand, and 
consequently they may be considered as mortuary bowls, fashioned 
to hold the offerings to the dead, to be placed in the graves with the 
remains. 

Such, briefly told, were the burial customs of the native tribes who 
once occupied the region from the Mississippi to the Atlantic, but of 
whom all traces are now disappearing. 



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(1) Journal of . . . 1634-1635. In Annual Report American His- 
torical Association for the year 1895. Washington, 1896. 
Van der Donck, A. 

(1) A Description of the New Netherlands. Reprint in Collections New 
York Historical Society. Second series, Vol. I. New York, 1841. 
Virginia Magazine. 

(1) The Indians of Southern Virginia. In Vol. VIII, July, 1900. 
Warren, William W. 

(1) Memoir. In Collections Minnesota Historical Society, Vol. V. St. 
Paul, 1885. 



BUSHNELL] 



BIBLIOGRAPHY 



155 



Welkins, C. 

(1) Letters from . . . In Transactions and Collections American 
Antiquarian Society, Vol. I. Worcester, 1S20. 
Wilkinson, J. B. 

(1) Annals of Binghamton. New York, 1840. 
Williams, .Roger. 

(1) A Key into the Language of America. London, 1643. Reprint in 
Collections Rhode Island Historical Society, Vol. I. Providence, 
1827. 

WlLLOUGHBY, C. C. 

(1) Prehistoric Burial Places in Maine. Papers of the Peabody 
Museum, Vol. I, No. G. Cambridge, Mass., 1898. 
Yaeeow, H. C. 

(1) A Further Contribution to the Study of the Mortuary Customs of 
the North American Indians. In First Annual Report Bureau of 
Ethnology. Washington, 1881. 



INDEX 



Alabama — Pago. 

Clarke County mounds 93 

Guntersville, mounds near 49 

Henry Island, mounds near 49 

Marshall County, cave burial__ 69 

Algonquian family — 

nomadic tribes 12 

•sedentary tribes 11 

Algonquian tribes — 

food supply of 11 

territory of 11 

Animals, graves containing only 

bones of 45 

Arrowheads, deposit of, in mound- 73 

Ashes, burials in 68 

Barren County, Ky. — 

cave burials 66 

Indian graves 50 

Baskets, burials in 67, 60 

Bath County, Va., mound in 128 

Baum village site, on Paint Creek, 

Ohio 137 

Bayou Lacomb, La., Choctaw burial 

customs of 100 

Biloxi burial customs 135-137 

Birds, bones of, found in graves 45 

BONB DEPOSITS 25 

See also Ossuaries. 

BONE-HOUSES 

of the Choctaw 95 

of the Muskhogean tribes 148 

Botetourt County, Va., remains in_ 123 
Bourbon County, Ky., Indian graves 

in 1 50 

Breckinridge County, Ky., cave 

burials in 68 

Bryan County, 6a., burial mounds_ 113 

Butler County, Ky., mounds in 49 

Cairns, as monuments to the dead — 17 

Cambridge 1 , Md., village site near 25 

Canonicus, burial of son of 17 

Cape Cod burials 13, 14 

Cass County, III., burial mounds 

in 62 

Cave burials 66-70 

Cayuga graves 87 

Chakchiuma ceremonies 108 

Charlestown, R. I., cemetery in 16 

Chenango County, N. Y., mound 

burials in 72, 88 

Cherokee burial mounds 90-93 

Chickahominy River, discovery on 

bank of___" 29 

Chickasaw burial customs 105-108 

Chillicothe, Ohio — 

mound near 121 

village site near 140 



Page. 

Chippeway burial 30 

See also Ojibway. 

Choctaw burials 94-101 

Chotb, burial mound at 91 

Cincinnati, Ohio, burial mound for- 
merly in 52 

Clarke County, Ala., mounds of_ 99 

Clay County, Fla., mound in 119 

Clay County, Miss., burial mounds 

in 99 

Cockerel's Spring, Tenn., burying 

ground at 45 

Corn Hill, Mass., graves at 14 

Cornplanter, Chief, birthplace of_ 87 
Crawford County, » Wis., burial 

mound in 64 

Creek burial customs 110-112 

Creighton Island, Ga., Indian . 

burial at 114 

Cremation 36, 58 

reason for 57, 147 

Dances — 

ending mourning 17 

for the dead 89 

funeral, of the Illinois 39 

in honor of the dead 40 

Delaware burial customs 20-24 

Delaware cemetery 90 

Delaware Indians, graves of 41 

Dogs — 

as gifts to the dying 13 

as sacrifices 32 

eaten at funeral feast 13 

Duplin County, N. C, burials in 135 

Duval County, Fla., mounds of 118 

Earthenware, used to line graves — 47 
See also Pottery. 

Earthworks. See Mounds. 

Earthworks of Ohio, age and 

origin 137 

Eastern Shore of Maryland,, burials 

on 25 

England, Indian burial in 114 

Erie County, N. Y. — 

Indian cemetery 71 

ossuary 79 

Fall River, Mass., remains near 18 

Fasting during mourning 109 

Feasts — 

at deathbed 12 

burial, in New England 12, 13 

for recovery of the sick 32 

Feather robes found in cave 

burials 66, 67 

Fires, traces of, characteristic of 

mounds 119 

157 



158 



INDEX 



Page. 

Five Nations, burial customs of 71 

Florida — 

Indian burials in 114-123 

Indian remains in 117-120 

Flokida burials, age of 121 

Fluvanna County, Va., graves in__ 122 
Fond du Lac, Wis., Ojibway grave 

• at 29 

Food for the dead 24, 33, 

35, 40, 89, 97 

Fort Neck Burying Ground 16 

Frankfort, Ohio, site of Shawnee 

town 42 

Franklin, Tenn., mound near 49 

French cemetery at Peoria . 43 

Gartner Mound, description of 140 

Geauga County, Ohio, cemetery in 57 

Genesed County, N. Y. — 

burials in 87 

mounds discovered in 72 

Genesee River, burials on 79 

Georgia, Indian burials in 113 

Ghosts, belief in — 

by Choctaw 100 

by Creeks : 110 

Giles County, Tenn., cave burials 

in 69 

Grave boxes of the Menomini 35 

Grave Creek Mound 59 

Guale tribe, burial mounds 112 

Guntersville, Ala., mounds near 49 

Habitations — 

abandonment of, after death 118 

destruction of, after death 118 

Hair cutting as an indication of 

mourning 35, 118 

Hair dressing as an indication of 

mourning 116 

Hancock County, Me., pit graves 

found in 15 

Hayesborough, Tenn., burying 

ground at 45 

Henry Island, Ala., mounds near__ 49 

Highland County, Va., mound in 130 

Hillsboro County, Fla., burials in_ 117 

Hocking County, Ohio, mound in__ 59 

HousATONiclNDiANS,burial customs- 17 

Huron burial customs 74. 80 

Hut rings, burials found in 106 

Illinois, burial mounds of 62-64 

Illinois Indians, burial customs cf_ 39 
Immortality, belief in— 

by Creeks 111 

by Hurons 77 

by Iroquois 88 

by Ojibway 30, 31, 33 

by Seneca 84 

Inclosed burials 58 

" Indian burying hill," in Rhode 

Island 16 

Indiana, burial mounds — 

Rusn County 61 

Steuben County 52 

Iroquois, league of the, nations 

forming 70 



Page. 

Jefferson County, Mo., cemetery in_ 54-56 
Jo Daviess County, III., burial 

mounds in 63 

Kaskaskia Indians, graves of 52 

Kentucky, Indian burials in_ 49-51, 66, 68 
Kickapoo Indians, mounds probably 

built by 63 

Lake County, Fla., mound in 120 

Lima, N. Y., cemetery at 87 

Lincoln County, Me., pit graves 

found in 15 

Louisa County, Va., mound in 12S 

Louisiana, Choctaw burial customs 

in 100 

Madison County, N. Y., native ceme- 
teries in 71 

Maine, pit graves in 15 

Manhattan Island, burial custom:; 

on 18 

Marshall County, Ala., cave burial 

in 69 

Marthas Vineyard, Mass. — 

cemeteries in 18 

native name of 18 

Maryland, deposit of bones in 25 

Massachusetts — 

graves at Corn Hill 14 

remains near Fall River : 18 

Massasoit, possible grave of 13 

Melecite Indians, customs of 12 

Menomini burials 34 

Miami Indians, burial customs of 38 

Mi cm game a tribe, burial mounds 

of 62 

Micmac Indians, customs of 12 

Missisauga burials 36 

Mississippi burial mounds — 

Clay County 99 

Union County 107 

Missouri, Jefferson County, ceme- 
tery in 54-56 

Monacan Indian burials 122-131 

Monacan tribes, classification of, by 

Mooney 130 

Montagnais Indians, customs of 12 

Montague. N. J., cemetery near 19 

Morgan County, Tenn., cave burial- 08 

Mortuary pottery 57, 148 

Mound burials, age of 62 

Mounds — 

as burial places 36, 48 

Cherokee method of building 93 

near Nashville, Tenn 44, 46, 47 

Mounds, burial — 

of the Choctaw 98 

of the Creeks 111 

visited by Indians 128 

Mourning customs — 

in New England '. 16 

of the Choctaw ' 100 

of the Natchez 104 

munsee cemetery in new jersey- 19 

Muskhogean groups 93 

Name of deceased tabooed 13 



INDEX 



159 



Page. 

Nanticoke burials 24-26 

Nashville, Tenn., Indian burials 

near 44 

Natchez burial customs 101-105 

New England — 

burial customs of 12 

graves in 29 

tribes of H 

New Jersey, Muns'ee cemetery in 19 

New York, Indian burials in 71-87 

Niagara County, N. Y., ossuary in__ 78 

Nl ANTIC CEMETERY 16 

Ninigret, Chief, burial place of 16 

North Carolina, burials in 135 

Ohio — 

ancient inclosures in 90 

burials in 42, 57, 61 

earthworks, obliteration of 137 

mounds 52, 59, 121, 137-145 

Ohio County, Ky\, burials in 51 

Ohio Valley, numerous cemeteries 

of 42, 

Ojtbway burials 29, 30, 31 

See also Cbippeway. 

Oneida graves 71 

Oneida mounds 72 

Onondaga tribe, cremation among- 37 
Orientation- — 

in Seminole burials 116 

in Tunica burials 109 

Oshkosh, Chief, grave of 35 

Ossabaw Island, Ga., burial mound. 113 

Ossuaries 73, 78 

See also Bone deposits, Bone- 
houses. 

Oswego, N. Y., cremation at 37 

Ottawa tribe, cremation practiced 

among 38 

Oxide of iron in graves 16 

Page County, Ya., mound in 129 

Paint Creek, Ohio, ancient village 

on 137 

Pascagoula burial customs 135-137 

Pennsylvania, tribes of 90 

Peoria, III., French cemetery at — 43 
Tit burials, Algonquian and Iro- 

. quoian tribes 147 

Pont i AC, grave of 43 

Posts, burial — 

of the Delaware 22, 24 

of the Menomini 35 

of the Miami 39 

of the Ojibway 29 

of the Shawnee 41 

Pottery, mortuary, found in graves- 57, 

58, 148 

Pottery-lined graves 55 

Powhatan burial customs 25-29 

Trairie du Chien, graves near 35 

Pygmy graves, explanation of 45 

Rapidan River, Ya., burial place 

on 126-128 

Rassawck, Indian settlement of 122 



Page. 

Red Jacket, grave of 71 

Rhode Island, Indian burials in 16 

Rivanna Valley, Ya., mound in__ 124-127 
Rockingham County, Va., mound in_ 129 
Ross County, Ohio — 

burial in , 61 

mounds in 121, 137-144 

Rush County, Ind., burial mound 

in 61 

St. Lawrence County, N. Y., mound 

in 72 

St. Louis, Mo., mound in 56 

St. Regis Island, N. Y., mound on_ 72 

Saline River, graves along 53 

Salt, source of supply 53 

Santee burials 131-134 

Savannah, Ga., Indian settlement 

at 114 

Scaffold burial — 

Chickasaw . 107 

Choctaw 94-98 

Illinois 40 

Menomini 36, 67 

Ojibway 30, 32 

Scioto Valley, earthworks of 142-146 

Seminole burial 114-116 

Seneca County, N. Y., burials in 87 

Seneca funeral ceremony 83-86 

Seneca mounds 71, 72 

Shtngask, Chief, burial of wifeof__. 20-22 

Shingoes town, burial at 23 

Siouan tribes, migration of 141 

" Skeleton in Armor " ^ 18 

" Soul-houses " of ancient Egyp- 
tians 19 

South Carolina, Indian burials in_ 131-134 
Steuben County, Ind., burial mounds 

in 52 

Stone-lined graves 44-57 

age of 56 

Stubblefield, Col. J. S., shell heap 

on land of 29 

Swallow Bluff Island, Tenn., 

mounds on 48 

Tarpon Springs, Fla., mound near_ 117 

Temple of the Natchez 104 

Temples for the dead 147 

Tennessee, Indian burials in * 44-49, 

68, 69, 90 

TlMUCUAN BURIALS 116-122 

Tombs of the Powhatan Indians 27 

Trees, hollow, burial in 116 

Tremper Mound 144 

Tunica burial customs 108 

Tuscarora Reservation, great 

burial place on 78 

Union County, Ky., communal 

burial mound in 51 

Union County, Muss., mounds of 107 

Urn burials in Georgia 113 

Vaults in mounds 59 

Village sites, temporary nature of_ 122 

Virginia, Indian burials in 122-130 

Wampanoag burying ground 15 



160 



INDEX 



Page. 



Wampum — 

collar or stole 81 

description of 82 

Warren County, Ky. — 

cave burials _ 68 

graves in 50 

Warren County, Tenn., cave 

burials 66 

Warren, R. I., ancient cemetery in__ 15 

Weanoc burial 28 



Page. 

Whiteside County, III., burial 

mound in 62 

Wilson County, Tenn., mounds of_ 106 
Winding sheets, bodies wrapped 

in 16 

Wisconsin burial mounds 64-66 

wxanoak burial 28 

Yadkin County, N. C, cemetery in__ 134 

Yamacraw Bluff, burial at 114 

Yamasee and Creek burial custom. 114 



o 



BUREAU OF AMERICAN ETHNOLOGY 



BULLETIN 71 PLATE 2 




b. BURIAL AT WINTHROP, MASS. 



BUREAU OF AMERICAN ETHNOLOGY 



BULLETIN 71 PLATE 3 




b. TOMB INSIDE THE ..TEMPLE'' AT SECOTAN, 1585 



BUREAU OF AMERICAN ETHNOLOGY 



BULLETIN 71 PLATE 4 




b. AMERICAN FUR COMPANY'S POST AT FOND DU LAC, 1825 



BUREAU OF AMERICAN ETHNOLOGY 



BULLETIN 71 PLATE 5 




a. OJIBWAY GRAVES AT MILLE LAC, MINNESOTA, 1900 




b. OLD FORM OF MENOMINI GRAVE COVERING 




c. LATER FORM OF SAME 



BUREAU OF AMERICAN ETHNOLOGY 



BULLETIN 71 PLATE 




b. SAME GRAVE BEFORE THE COVER WAS REMOVED 



BUREAU OF AMERICAN ETHNOLOGY 



BULLETIN 71 PLATE 7 




b. SAME GRAVE BEFORE REMOVING COVER 



U REAL) OF AMERICAN ETHNOLOGY 



BULLETIN 71 PLATE 




b. LARGE GRAVE IN MOUND IN WARREN COUNTY, KENTUCKY 



BUREAU OF AMERICAN ETHNOLOGY 



BULLETIN 71 PLATE 9 




b. STONE-LINED GRAVE, J EFFERSON COUNTY, MISSOURI 



BUREAU OF AMERICAN ETHNOLOGY 



BULLETIN 71 PLATE 10 




b. PARTIAL EXCAVATION OF OSSUARY, GASPORT, N. Y. 



REAU OF AMERICAN ETHNOLOGY 



BULLETIN 71 PLATE 11 




b. CEMETERY AT A SENECA VILLAGE, 1731 



BUREAU OF AMERICAN ETHNOLOGY 



BULLETIN 71 PLATE 13 




a. SEMINOLE GRAVE 




b. BURIAL CEREMONY IN FLORIDA, 1564. FROM LE MOYNE 



BUREAU OF AMERICAN ETHNOLOGY 



BULLETIN 71 PLATE 14 




c. THE RIVANNA PASSING THE "LOW GROUNDS" 

SITE OF MOUND OPENED BY JEFFERSON 



BUREAU OF AMERICAN ETHNOLOGY 



BULLETIN 71 PLATE 17 





b. PLAN OF BASE AS REVEALED DURING RECENT EXAMINATION 

"TREMPER MOUND " 



vw V^*y v*** 







